Purity
by swrWriter
Summary: Surface life's pretty neat, but Gaster's still hard at work looking for a way to stop the 'Entity' from destroying the timeline. Other than that, life's pretty great with Alex, Frisk, and everyone else. May include epic fights, love, and shenanigans. Oh, and did I mention multiversal travel? So yeah, adventures await our humans and monsters. What first? [Sequel to PureTale]
1. Orientation

Alex woke slowly from the light filtered through the blinds on the window beside him. The first rays of the day were shining through and directly onto his eyes. It was dawn. Unable to fall back asleep, he got out of bed and swung their legs over the side of the bed, but they didn't touch the ground.

Alex swung them some more over to the right and began to climb down the ladder onto the floor. Below his bed lay Frisk Dreemurr, the adopted daughter of Toriel. Somewhere dormant in her mind also laid Chara Dreemurr, but Alex decided not to wake them. Though, he did stand there for a moment and smiled at her sleeping form. She looked pretty cute cuddled into a ball like that.

Alex stood there a moment to long and heard someone clear their throat. Alex turned around to see Asriel, sitting up in his own bed, looking intently with eyes narrowed toward Alex. A smirk was formed by his mouth. Alex, however, felt the heat on their face and a blush form rather than a smile.

Asriel opened his mouth to speak, whispering softly, "Wow, already?"

Alex narrowed his eyes in response and glared at him. Asriel simply giggled quietly. Alex shook their head and went to his dresser to get his pair of clothes for the day. While he was picking out a new pair of blue jeans and while looking for a shirt, Asriel spoke again.

"You're both so weird."

"No, you're weird. And says who?"

"Well, Chara agrees with me!"

"Nuh uh."

"Yeah, you are. You're just like how mom and dad always are…"

Alex tried to ignore Asriel's teasing as they picked out the shirt. It was a red shirt with the words "Cool Dude" in a large font on the front in silver. After seeing Papyrus' 'cool dude' shirt, Alex had asked for one as well. Being… well, Papyrus, he couldn't say no and made another just for him. Alex loved it!

He stood up with his clothes under his right arm and prepared to leave when Asriel spoke up again, "Just tell her how much you LOOoooovvvveee her!"

Alex turned around slowly and prepared his face. He turned around to look at Asriel and had one of the creepiest faces, forcing a shriek from Asriel as he fell backwards a bit. Alex couldn't hold it and laughed aloud, losing the creepy face.

Asriel crossed his arms and pouted, "No fair, you can't just use Chara's creepy face like that!"

Alex shrugged and held his arms in the air in defense, "Hey, blame Chara. She's the one who taught me."

 **"Taught what?"** They both turned to Frisk to see the creepiest face ever constructed. Her eyes and sockets were pure black along with her mouth. In fact, if they didn't know any different, they'd say there was something black leaking out of her mouth and eyes.

Both of them shrieked and fell back while Chara laughed and rolled around on her bed. Her face shifted back to normal and her eyes being red now instead of black. Asriel scolded her, "Stop it Chara, not this early!"

After the fear left Alex, he laughed, "Dang Chara, you do creepy faces on a whole 'nother level."

Chara beamed and smiled with pride, **"Of course. I am a pro, after all."**

"Is Frisk still sleeping?" Asriel asked, almost innocently.

Chara nodded, **"Yeah, but she'll likely wake up soon. Why Azzy?"**

Asriel smirked deviously, and Alex knew why. "Chara, wouldn't you agree that Alex and Frisk llloooooovvvvveeeeee each other?!"

Alex's face turned beat red. Chara tried to suppress a laugh for a moment before giving up and rolling back and forth in bed. Alex dropped their clothes on the floor and leaped onto Asriel's bed, tackling him and shaking him by his shoulders. "Be quiet you little goat!"

Everyone was laughing now, making plenty of noise. It was enough to wake up Frisk, and now one eye was brown and the other was red. This was only for a moment before Chara slipped back inside and gave Frisk back full control, turning both eyes brown.

Suddenly, the door opened and Toriel stood in their doorway, "Up already, my children?"

Alex quickly hopped off of Asriel and ran to pick his clothes back up. "Yeah mom, I was just going to get changed!"

"On top of Asriel?" She asked, laughing.

Alex quickly shook his head, "No, he was just teasing me."

"Nuh uh, I didn't do anything, right Frisk?" Asriel tried to defend himself.

Chara couldn't resist and must have said something to Frisk, "Chara said that it's both of their faults!" Both Asriel and Alex glared at Frisk. For just a moment, an eye flashed red and winked at them. They were DEFINITLY going to get payback later.

"Alright, well why don't you all get dressed? This IS our last week before school!" Toriel added, smiling. This announcement forced a groan out of all children. Asriel pouted again.

"C'mon Asriel, no pouting… Asgore's making pancakes!"

Asriel immediately brightened up and jumped out of bed and bounded to his closet to pick out his clothes. Alex, Frisk, and Toriel all laughed.

She turned to Alex and Frisk, "You two, why don't you all get ready too. We're going to be meeting your some of your teachers today at Orientation, after all!"

Now they both grinned and giggled excitedly. Frisk now jumped out of bed to choose her own clothes for the day. Alex walked out the door to their bedroom and turned left. Only a few feet further, at the end of the hall, was the bathroom. He opened the door and closed it behind him.

Summer flew by pretty fast. He fell Underground (twice), freed the monsters with Frisk, and returned to the Surface. Already, the monsters had built a decent sized town around the mountain to live on and a nearby town had partnered with the monsters for various things, like education.

It was pretty hectic at first, getting adopted by Toriel, the announcement about the monsters, it was so crazy, but pretty much everything has worked out well. Who knows, maybe even school wouldn't be so bad. After all, some of their monster friends would be there with them and a few of their friends were teachers.

Alex brushed his teeth and finished getting dressed before he walked out of the bathroom to see Frisk waiting outside the door. She smiled warmly and entered the bathroom once Alex exited. This life with the monsters, it would be pretty great.

* * *

They had all arrived at the school only minutes ago after a rather uneventful day. They spent most of the day together at home as a family before enjoying one of Toriel's famous home-cooked dinners. Now that they were here, Alex, Frisk, and Asriel (and Chara too, kinda) would be meeting several of their teachers for the upcoming school year, which included their very own mother.

After the initial greeting from the Principal, which included a discussion on proper etiquette with monsters, many of the teachers went back to their respective classrooms to await parents and students. Asgore served as the adult chaperone for the children as they went around to see the teachers. First stop, the gym.

PE had always been one of Alex and Frisk's favorite classes, as long as they weren't doing pointless exercises that is. Standing near the bleachers by the side of the basketball court stood a familiar sight. A tall blue fish with crimson hair stood in the middle of a small crowd of students and parents alike. Alex and Frisk immediately ran over towards her, yelling her name and grabbing her attention.

"Hey punks, how's it going?" She exclaimed, almost literally throwing the other children out of her way to get to her 'besties'. She squatted down and gave them both a large hug, nearly squeezing the life out of them.

"St-stop it Undyne."

"Y-yeah. C-can't breathe. *Bleehh*" Frisk stuck her tongue out and pretended to die from the hug. She just laughed and released the pair.

"It's Miss Undyne to you nerds!" She said matter-of-factly with both of her fists on her hips, prompting the pair to stick their tongues out at her.

Asgore and Asriel finally made their way through the crowd and made it to them. Asriel ran up and hugged Undyne too for a moment before she met eye contact with Asgore. She smiled and stood up straight for a moment before offering her hand toward him. He reached out in response and shook it gently.

"Howdy Undyne."

"Your majesty."

Asgore held up his other hand slightly and shook his head. "No need for such formalities. I am no longer a King." She nodded, understanding what he said.

They all talked with her a bit longer before she realized that they weren't her only students and parents she was going to talk to. They bid her goodbye and walked away toward another building with many classrooms. Their next stop was Toriel's room.

Her classroom was decorated in many symbols and items from the Underground, however it was all very neat and organized. After all, Toriel had always wanted to be a teacher, and now she finally was. She was a reading teacher and one of the two librarians. There she stood, by her desk and standing next to another man while they both talked to the parents and students.

The man beside her wore black dress pants with matching black dress shoes and a red polo shirt. His short brown hair was neatly combed to the side, making him look even more professional. The four of them waited to the side for the other parents to finish their conversation before they finally approached Toriel and the other man.

"Oh, hello my children. And Asgore." She smiled as she bent down to hug her three children."

"Ah, so these are the three troublemakers I always hear about." The man beside her said. Toriel gave a quick chuckle in response and nodded. She stood back up after the hug and motioned toward the man beside her.

"This is Mr. Sower, my colleague." She said, smiling.

Mr. Sower rolled his hand in front of his chest before doing a quick bow. "Mr. Jordan Sower, at your service. How do you do?" He asked.

Asgore smiled and shook hands with the teacher. "And howdy to you, Mr. Sower. I'm Asgore, Toriel's husband."

"Pleasure to meet you all. Toriel has told me so much about you all. And none of it was bad." He said with a smile, winking towards Toriel, which caused a stifled laugh from her.

She nodded and continued, "He is the other librarian and will be your Writing and Grammar teacher."

He put on a friendly smile and extended he hand towards the children. Alex took it first, "Nice to meet you Mister Sower. I'm Alex!" Alex put on a wide grin as they shook hands.

"Nice to meet you Alex."

Next Frisk took his hand shook, "I-I'm F-Frisk." She said, a bit nervous. Alex and Asriel looked to her in slight concern. She wasn't normally nervous around strangers. That's when they noticed the slight red hue in her eye's signaling that it may be Chara who was nervous around this new human. For some reason, Chara always had a problem with meeting new humans, but she never really explained why to anyone.

Asriel took a step closer to Frisk/Chara, reached a paw for her other hand, and squeezed it gently. Frisk took a deep breath and shook his hand a bit more firmly. Mister Sower looked slightly concerned. After the hand shake he bent down to her level and looked into her eyes before speaking.

"Frisk?"

"…yeah?" She looked like she was a mixture of nervous and embarrassed. She tried to avoid eye-contact but eventually gave in and looked into her teacher's dark green eyes.

"Are you ok?" He asked in a hushed tone. "You seem a bit nervous. Am I making you feel this way?"

Frisk quickly shook her head side-to-side. "No, no, no. I'm just… nervous around new people, that's all."

Mister Sower nodded and smiled, "Alright. If you have any problems let me know, ok? I'm always here if you need help or someone to talk to."

Frisk brightened up and bit and nodded with a smile, "Thanks Mr. Sower."

Toriel smiled and silently thanked her colleague with a smile and nod. He understood. He then turned his attention to the little goat monster next to Frisk. He extended his hand toward the small boy, who quickly accepted it.

"Howdy, I'm Asriel."

"Ah, the prince, himself?" Asriel blushed slightly from the compliment.

"Yeah…"

Mister Sower smirked upon seeing the light blush on the young prince's face. He let out a quite chuckle and stood up a bit straighter. "Well, it seems all three of you will be in my Homeroom this year and in my class first thing in the morning. Do you three like to read?"

All three of them nodded with enthusiasm, but Alex and Frisk had a bit more than Asriel. Alex started, "Yeah, we love to read!" Frisk quickly agreed, "Reading is fun… at least… when it's a good book." Asriel quickly agreed as well, especially with Frisk's final comment.

Mister Sower laughed, "Hahaha, good. And don't worry, I only have good stories and books in store for you all this year. I'm sure you'll enjoy them!"

Just then, the next group of parents and students walked in to talk to the two English teachers. Mister Sower noticed them and looked back to the three Dreemurrs. "It looks like this is our cue to go. I look forward to seeing you all next Monday!" He said it with a smile before walking over to the new group of people.

Toriel sighed and looked toward her family, "Yes, unfortunately I will have to leave you all for now. Why don't you go check out the other teachers?"

Her three children frowned but agreed and began to walk towards the door. Asgore looked back to his wife and smiled, "I'll see you later, Tori."

She smiled back and replied, "And same to you, Fluffybuns." His face grew red as he hoped no one else heard her say that before catching up to the kids before he lost them. Toriel laughed to herself as she walked back over towards Mister Sower and the new group.

* * *

 ** _Quick Note:_**

 ** _Alright, I've been rewriting this for a while now, trying to make it good, which I think it may now be. Anyway, I've felt fairly uninspired to write for a while but I seem to be coming back now. I plan an update a week, or more, so we'll see how it goes. If you look forward to more, let me know and I hope you enjoyed it. Time to go back to writing and I've got quite a bit in store for this story. By the way, if you're American, Happy 4th of July/ Independence Day!_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	2. First Day of School

Each of the children were getting dressed for school as Asgore was working on a wonderful breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast for the family. He smiled widely as he was cooking this fine meal, happy to be back with his family. After so long, he had a family again. He had Toriel and Asriel again, and they all forgave him for his past crimes. He even had two newly adopted children, which only made life better for the ex-king and current ambassador for Monsters.

As he hummed away next to the sizzling bacon, Toriel came in and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek as she got some coffee out of the pot.

"Mornin' Tori."

"Good morning Asgore, thanks for making breakfast."

"Of course, it's the most important meal of the day!" He replies as he finished up the last of the bacon and began making the plates of food for his wife and children. Today was a big day after all, everyone's first day of school. He set the plates at the table, starting with Toriel.

She smiled, "It smells absolutely eggscelenct." She muttered, stifling a giggle. Asgore simply rolled his eyes as he placed the rest of the plates on the table for Alex, Frisk, and Asriel. Toriel began eating some of her breakfast right as the three previously mentioned children came downstairs and sat at the table. They each appeared tired as well, not used to having to wake up early.

"Good morning, my children." Toriel started, smiling.

"Morning mom and dad." They each said, one after the other. Each of them seems a mixture of nervous, excited, and unhappy this morning, unsure how to feel about the return or start of school.

They all sat quietly and began eating the delicious breakfast prepared for them. Asgore may have had trouble cooking deserts like Toriel's pies, but he wasn't a bad chef at all. Toriel was the first to speak up to her children.

"Are you all ready for your first day of school?" She asked, smiling and sipping her coffee.

Asriel beamed, "Yeah, I've always wanted to see how school is. Plus, Frisk and Alex will be with me all day."

Frisk's eyes turned to a mixture of dark brown and red before she spoke, **"What about me Azzy?"** Chara asked, feigning a broken heart.

Alex turned toward Frisk/Chara and responded, "But Chara, you're not going to physically be there!"

 **"Yes I will, just inside Frisk's body is all."** She countered.

Asgore laughed, "What about you, Tori? Your first day as a teacher."

She let out a soft sigh but was still smiling, "I've been looking forward to this day for a while. Just a bit nervous, I guess."

Asriel hopped out of his seat and gave a comforting hug to his mom, "Don't worry mom, you'll be the best teacher. I'm sure of it."

Asgore put a paw on her shoulder, "Of course she will. Not many can be even be half as great as your mother."

Frisk/Chara put a hand on her chin, **"What about Papyrus?"**

Frisk seized control for a moment, "He's a different kind of great, Chara."

Everyone laughed and finished their food before returning to gather their belongings for school. Toriel, having already gathered her stuff together early, remained at the table enjoying her coffee as Asgore cleaned up the kitchen.

After Asgore had finished cleaning up after his cooking, he went to gather his own belongings for a political meeting later on during the day while everyone else was at school. He got his things ready quickly and returned to the table to enjoy some coffee beside his wife while the children continued to prepare for their first day of school. After he made his own cup of coffee, he sat down beside Toriel and smiled.

"Don't worry Tori," He said, reaching out and grabbing one of her paws and holding it. "I'm sure all of the children will love you."

She smiled, "Thanks Gori… I'm glad we finally… fixed everything." She said, meaning their relationship and their family.

"As am I. I… I really missed you, and I regretted everything I did to chase you away…"

"I know Asgore… I know."

After a few more minutes were spent discussing the plans for the day the kids finally came back downstairs, prepared for their first day. Toriel smiled, gave Asgore a quick goodbye kiss on the cheek, and ushered her children out the door as they sent their goodbyes toward Asgore. Once outside, they quickly climbed into the family's silver SUV and buckled up.

Toriel pulled out of the driveway and off towards their school for their first day. Each of them were both ready and not-ready for what the day held. But, they all knew it couldn't be too bad. Luckily, humans haven't been quite as negative towards monsters as expected. Sure, there were a large amount who were less-then-friendly to monsters, but many more supported Monsterkind. Now, time for school.

* * *

It was still relatively early in the morning, but school was ready to start soon. Toriel had parked her car in one of the spaces for teachers before opening the door for her three children as they climbed out one-by-one. She gave each of them a hug and a quick encouragement for the day. After that she released her final child and walked beside them toward the main building.

"Now don't forget, Papyrus will be picking you all up and taking you to their house after school."

"Aww, but what about dad?" Asriel complained halfheartedly, both disappointed in not being picked up by Asgore but also excited to see the Great Papyrus again.

"Haha, don't worry Asriel, he's just going to be busy in a meeting."

Asriel, satisfied with her answer, smiled and nodded as they continued toward the building. Each of the four of them felt a mixture of anxious and excitement as they walked through the main entrance to the school and into the hallway. Toriel waved goodbye as she walked to her own classroom while the three children walked together down the hall toward Mister Sower's classroom.

As they walked down the hall with their backpacks, Frisk spotted Monster Kid, who had just tripped and was in the process of getting back up. She bounded over to him excitedly.

"Hey MK."

He turned and smiled as wide as he could to the young human. "Yo Frisk, how's it been?"

Frisk tilted her head slightly to her right and smiled while replying. "I've been good MK, ready for school?"

"Heck yeah, I can't wait for PE to see Undyne. Man, she's so cool!" He was beaming just thinking about seeing Undyne again in all her glory… or, at least, some of it. "Hey, you think she'll beat up any of the teachers?"

Frisk snickered while Asriel spoke up, "I don't think she would unless they did something really bad."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Anyway, I gotta go get some of my stuff for class. Nice seeing you all again." He said, smiling at the three of them before running back off toward what was assumed to be his locker.

The three Dreemurrs continued down the hall and into their homeroom classroom. This room had grey tiles and a soft blue paint on the walls. In the front of the room was a dark, wooden desk with a small bookshelf beside it, nearly overflowing with different books. The whiteboards were shiny and clean for the first day of school, and likely wouldn't look like that for the rest of the year.

In front of the teacher's desk were six rows of five desks, none of them with names on them, giving the impression that there were no assigned seats, at least not yet anyway. The three of them, not being particularly shy or outgoing, decided to sit in the middle of the second row from the front, talking quietly to each other as the remaining students flooded into the room to fins their own seats to sit in.

As all of the students came in and talked to each other, filling the room with noise, their teacher walked in wearing a navy-blue polo shirt and khaki pants. He wrote on the board his name, Mr. Sower, on the white board in black expo before finally asking the kids to quiet down. He looked over to Alex, Frisk, and Asriel and smiled warmly toward the trio before beginning roll call.

Looking at the list, there were only a few monsters in this first class. He, however, looked forward to teaching his students, especially including the monsters. He never thought this day would come, but it did. He spoke aloud to the class, demanding their full attention.

"Good morning class. My name is Mister Sower. Let's start with roll call. When I call your name, raise your hand and say 'here'. Ok?" Everyone silently agreed as he read of the first name.

* * *

The bell rang for the end on their first day of science, their final class before lunch, and the three Dreemurrs rushed out of the room with the rest of the students to grab their lunch before heading outside to the picnic tables for lunch.

They all chose a relatively alone table to the side at sat down with a few others. Michael, or Mk, and his younger sister sat with Alex, Asriel, and Frisk. Alex opened his lunchbox and see his homemade lunch prepared for him by the greatest mother of all, Toriel. She made some of the best food in the world, and school lunches were certainly not going to be an exception.

As Alex unwrapped his sandwich to enjoy, he heard MK and Frisk talking to each other.

"Yo Frisk, have you met my sister before? I can't remember."

Frisk shook her head and remained silent for a moment as she swallowed a bite of her own sandwich. "I don't think so." She held out her hand toward the smaller, pink version of MK with a bow on her head. "I'm Frisk."

"H-hi Frisk. I'm Tiffany. Michael's told me all about how cool you are."

Asriel swallowed what was in his mouth before complaining, "What about me? I'm cool."

Alex smiled, "Yeah, but you're also the prince, Asriel. You don't get special treatment just because!"

Asriel crossed his arms and pouted for a moment for losing his façade, laughing, and returning to eat his sandwich. Alex then held out his hand to Tiffany as well, who took it and shook it too.

"I'm Alex. Nice to meet you Tiffany." He said, smiling.

"Oh yeah, my big bro's told me about you too. You're a hero too, right?"

Alex felt pride swell in his chest as he smiled, "Yes. Yes I am!" He almost stood up and struck a pose, but decided against it before adding something else. "But Frisk's deserves most of the credit."

Frisk looked shocked and blushed lightly, "W-what? No no no, Alex is just as much of a hero as I am." MK and Tiffany laughed at the display.

"No need to be so modest about it guys, you're all heroes to us." Tiffany said, smiling.

Just as she said that, a group of older boys approached the table, smiling in a not-so-pleasant manner. "Yeah, such heroes. Bringing a bunch of monsters up to the surface." One of them said, clearly being sarcastic.

Tiffany, however, didn't catch the sarcasm, "Y-yeah, aren't they the coolest."

The boy who spoke previously spoke and gave her and angry look, "Did it look like I was talking to you? You stupid dinosaur!"

Alex stood up, "Hey, there's no reason to call names and be mean!"

"Quiet monster lover. You know, things were so much better without all these monsters here at school. All people worry about are monsters. What about us humans? We're more important than some stupid dinosaur or dog."

MK stood up now and looked angry, "Hey, leave my sister alone. You're the only stupid thing I see here!"

This comment from the young monster made the older kid only angrier. He pushed MK back, making his trip and fall onto his back, scrapping his tail on some of the rocks. Asriel jumped up and ran over to Mk, helping him back up onto his feet. Alex quickly ran over and got in front of Tiffany, Asriel, and MK, blocking them from the kid's view.

"What's your problem, man? We didn't do anything wrong."

Another older kid standing behind the 'ringleader' spoke up now, "He's got a name, stupid. This guy's Joseph."

"Yeah, and back off. You all started it when you brought these dumb animals to the surface. They belong Underground, not roaming free!" Said Joseph, clearly not liking the fact that Alex was in front of him.

Alex was furious now as Joseph tried to take another step toward the monsters. In the heat of the moment, Alex pushed Joseph, making him stagger a few steps back. That was a mistake.

Joseph jumped forward and sent a punch into Alex's stomach, sending him doubling over as he then immediately shoved Alex to the ground. He landed, scraping himself on the rocks, besides his brother and the other two monsters. Asriel yelled out, "ALEX!"

The entire time this was happening, Frisk and Chara stood in shook watching this unfold before them. Chara begged Frisk internally to give her control. She needed to stop this before it got worse. She knew how much worse this could get. Frisk refused, but could make herself do anything. That is… until she saw Alex receive a sucker punch to the stomach and push onto the ground. She agreed with Chara and her eyes turned blood red, glowing slightly.

She moved at an incredible speed, dashing to Joseph's side and sending her fist into the side of his friend's head, who had spoken earlier, with no hesitation. The impact sent him down, diving involuntarily to the ground and staying there. If this was a fighting game, a large red KO would likely appear out of thin air. He wasn't getting back up.

She turned toward the rest of the little gang before they could react to their friend's defeat and dashed toward them, tackling Joseph to the ground and landing on top of him. She reached to the side quickly and grabbed a plastic knife from the ground that must have fallen earlier. She held the plastic blade firmly, holding it firmly to the boy's throat without breaking the skin. It wasn't her old metal knife, but it was good enough.

The boy was dazed but his eyes were wide with fear. The other two boys stood back and froze in place, unwilling to put themselves in harm's way either, yet unwilling to flee. They stood in horror as Frisk/Chara threatened to spill blood on the ground. Her eyes were filled with malice. Asriel, looking over to see the look in Chara's eyes, knew she not only wasn't hesitating to hurt the kid, but she was about to do so as soon as her heart rate slowed just a bit.

Not wanting it to get any worse and against his better judgement, he ran over and tackled Frisk, wrapping her in a tight up. He shed some tears into her shoulder as she tried to talk while sobbing. "C-chara, s-stop it. You d-don't need to hurt anyone e-else."

She tensed up, but snapped out of her anger and realized what she had been prepared to do. She was ready, she was prepared, she was about to kill him. He deserved it though, didn't he? He hurt her friends, he we mean to her brother, and… she hurt Alex. Chara knew how Frisk felt about Alex and could no longer contain her fury when they both witnessed the attack. She felt her eyes become wet, but even worse… she felt the sorrow coming from Frisk.

Frisk… she only wanted to stop the fighting. That's why she agreed to give Chara control for a moment. But… she betrayed her friend's trust. Her sister's trust. She tried to use Frisk body to kill someone. She let the tears flow down Frisk's cheeks, both her own and Frisk's, and hugged Asriel back. **"Azzy… I'm s-so sorry…"**

 **Frisk… I'm sorry...**

 _I… I understand Chara. I forgive you…_

 **How can you be so forgiving? After what I just did?**

 _I know you didn't mean to go so far. You only wanted to protect them…_

 **I'm… I'm so, so sorry…** Chara internally sobbed as she released complete control over Frisk and gave it completely back as she fled deep into Frisk's mind, hiding herself in shame.

* * *

Mister Sower heard the commotion from his seat at his table. Being a lunch monitor could be peaceful at time, but on days like today, it was chaotic and full of trouble. When he finally arrived at the table he Alex rolling in pain and groaning on the ground with Tiffany and Michael trying to help him up. A few feet from them was another kid, who name was something like Brian, unconscious beside another kid named Joseph who looked like he received a beating.

He heard sobbing behind the other kids and turned to see Frisk and Asriel crying into each other's shoulders while hugging, both obviously trying to comfort the other. Finally, there were two other kids whose names escaped the teacher who were trying to help Brian and Joseph out with little success. He cleared his throat, earning the attention of all who was involved.

"What happened here?"

The two human kids stood up beside Joseph and Brian and pointed towards Frisk. "She attacked them for no reason." Mister Sower narrowed his eyes toward the two boys upon hearing their lame excuse.

"Really now? And I suppose Alex's injuries were also caused by Frisk for," The teacher held both hands in front of himself and used air quotes, "no reason."

Both kids looked away in embarrassment for being caught in such a mediocre lie. The teacher shook his head and turned toward Michael and Tiffany. "Can one of you two tell me what happened?"

Tiffany spoke up, "My brother and I were eating lunch with them," She said pointing her tale towards Frisk, Asriel, and Alex. "When these other kids came over and started calling me mean names.

MK continued, "I got up to defend her when that kid, Joseph, pushed me. Asriel came over and tried to help as Alex jumped up to defend all of us."

Mister Sower helped Alex to his feet and sat him down back at the table. "Alex, what happened next?"

"I-…" He tried to talk, but his breath still alluded him. Mister Sower softly put a hand on Alex's shoulder and smiled at him. He looked back to the two monster children who helped Frisk and Asriel get back up and sit down next to Alex at the table.

"So, you were injured for trying to defend you brother and friends, right?" Alex nodded in agreement before the teacher looked to Frisk and Asriel, who were still trying to calm down. He then looked to Michael and asked him to continue.

"W-well, then Frisk stood up and pushed one of the kids down before jumping on the other one." He said, pointing to Joseph, who was now standing on his own beside the other three boys. Brian was already back up beside the others too.

Mister Sower nodded and stroked his chin, "Alright. You." He said, pointed to the four boys. "And you." He added, pointing to Frisk but sounding much less harsh then when he addressed the other kids. "All of you will follow me to the Principal's office to discuss the matter further. As for the rest of you…" He said, looking to Alex and the three monsters. "Lunch is about over. Get ready to go back inside… and Alex, why don't you go see the nurse?"

Alex nodded and began walking towards the building with Asriel helping him. Both MK and Tiffany nodded as they began to gather their stuff right as the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. He turned to the four boys and one girl and ushered them towards the building and toward the Principal's office.

 _'Dammit!'_ , Jordan thought to himself. Toriel wasn't going to be overly joyed to hear about this. Luckily, it seems the only thing Frisk did wrong was go too far. As they approached the destination the four boys quietly talked to each to each other, likely trying to get their story straight, while Frisk remained completely silent. It was as if she was trying to calm herself down or something.

 _Poor Frisk_ , he thought. _It seems your first day of school wasn't as great as it should've been._

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _Boy oh boy, seems like some of the kids weren't big fans of monsters. And Chara kinda lost it there for a moment. Hopefully it won't make things too tense…_**

 ** _So, maybe two updates a week since I'm into it right now. Anyway, hope you liked this chapter. Have a good day._**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	3. Chara's first EXP

**_[Quick Warning: This chapter may get a little serious and intense. It's ok.]_**

The final bell of the day had rung and the students began to flood out of the classroom, many of them wishing Toriel a good rest of her day. She smiled kindly to her students as she returned to her desk to take care of a few things.

As she sat at her desk looking over her lesson plans she heard a light knock on her classroom door, which prompted an immediate "come in" from the kind monster.

She smiled seeing Jordan Sower, her colleague, walk in and close the door behind him. "Good afternoon Toriel."

"Good afternoon to you too, Jordan." She replied with a friendly smile, giving all of her attention to her friend.

"So, how was your first day as a teacher? Not too terrible, I hope."

She chuckled for a moment before responding. "No, not at all. It went very well, thanks for asking."

"Good, good…" He replied with a smile. He desperately didn't want to tell her about the incident at lunch but knew she had to be told. He cleared his throat, "Actually, I have a matter to discuss with you…"

"Oh? What is it?" She asked, completely unaware of what had occurred during lunch.

He sighed before walking over to her desk, grabbing a chair on his way over. He sat down next to his colleague. "It's about Frisk."

Still completely unaware, but now concerned, she responded. "What about her? Did she misbehave in your class today?"

He opened his eyes a bit wider in surprise before rapidly shaking his head. "No no, she was an angel… however there was an… incident during lunch."

She covered her mouth with a paw in fear, hoping nothing had happened to her children while she was busy inside. "Wh-what happened to my child? Did she get hurt?"

Jordan put a hand on her shoulder and looked into Toriel's eyes, trying to comfort her, "No, she's fine and probably heading home now…" There was no use in not explaining any longer, so he began to explain what happened.

"There were some boys that came over to you children and the other monsters. They were apparently teasing and making fun of them before things escalated quickly."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it started with them pushing Michael, or MK, to the ground. Then, Alex tried to defend them and Asriel from any further attacks or teasing before they punched him too."

Toriel's eyes showed a mixture of fear and anger, ready to go defend her children. Jordan put his other hand on her other shoulder as well, still holding eye contact. His eyes were begging her to calm down. She did so.

"Then, Frisk attacked the boys too before Asriel forced her to stop. The principal has suspended the boys and threatened to do the same to Frisk." She looked worried, but he reassured her, "…But I talked to her and she decided to just give Frisk a warning, for now."

Toriel hugged Jordan tightly, "Thank you for helping her out. Thank you so much."

Jordan couldn't help it and laughed, returning the friendly hug. "Hey, we're friends after all, right? Plus, she was only trying to defend her family. It was understandable."

After a moment, she released Jordan, who sat down in his chair while she did the same. "Anyway, nothing happened after that, but she missed the first half of her history class. I watched them get into 'The Great Papyrus'' car just a minute before I came in here."

Toriel smiled. "Thanks Jordan. I'll talk with them after I finish up here."

Jordan got up and smiled to her. He walked to the door and opened it. Before he stepped out into the hallway, he turned back and smiled toward Toriel. "No problem Toriel. And if you need anything, just let me know." She nodded in agreement and smiled back as he left, closing the door behind him.

Toriel quickly went back to her work for the next few minutes before getting up herself and gathering her belongings. She went outside and got into her car to go home to prepare dinner for the night. She knew Papyrus would bring them home for dinner, so she'd wait until then to talk about the 'incident'. She had to keep reminding herself that they weren't so young anymore. After all, she noticed how Alex and Frisk looked at each other when the other wasn't looking.

She smiled, thinking about this, as she started up the car and pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward home. Maybe she'd make a pie for desert…

* * *

The wind blowing in all four of their faces as Papyrus drove them back toward his house in his shiny red convertible. This car was beloved by Papyrus and a dream come true for him, and the only thing that would be better would be if he could somehow spontaneously grow hair. He smiled towards the three kids in the car as they finally pulled up to the skeleton's residence.

"HUMANS AND ASRIEL, WE HAVE ARRIVED!" He said, hurriedly getting out of his car to open the car door for them. They all laughed and giggled as they got out of the car and walked beside Papyrus to his doorstep.

The house was very similar to their old one in Snowdin. Eternal Christmas lights were adorned on the roof, but many of the other ridiculous decorations were missing due to Gaster's insistence that their home 'actually look like a normal home'. But the house still had that cottage-feel to it like in Snowdin.

After Papyrus opened the door, the kids quickly went inside and sat on their same-old couch from the Underground beside Sans, who was napping away the day.

"SANS! WAKE UP! THE CHILDREN HAVE ARRIVED." He quickly said, yelling at his brother and shaking him, prompting Sans to finally give up on his 5th nap of the day. Papyrus left them all alone as he went to the kitchen to make some spaghetti for Gaster since he was usually home late after working in his lab. For some reason, he's been working much later and much more often recently, but Papyrus didn't have much of a clue as to why.

 _"sup bro. hey kiddos."_ He said, smiling as they jumped into his arms and smothered him in affection and hugs. After a moment, he noticed a few odd things. Alex had a few bandages on his arms and legs while Frisk was quieter than usual. _"so, what happened today?"_ He asked, making his pupils grow darker in an attempt to show them he was serious.

Frisk's eyes remained the normal dark brown, yet she looked away, jumped up off of the couch, and dashed out the back door and into the yard. Sans' pupils returned immediately and showed immense worry for the poor kid. Perhaps he shouldn't have gotten so serious so quickly. Or, perhaps, something bad must have occurred today.

Asriel gave a look to Alex, silently telling him to go after her. Alex nodded in understanding and dashed outside after her. Asriel looked back to Sans and spoke, "There were some mean kids who hurt Alex… and Chara came out and attacked the bad kids."

Sans softened his expression and got up off the couch to go after Frisk and Alex. He really screwed up this time. He shouldn't have tried to force the kid to talk. He felt his hand being held by Asriel. Sans quickly turned back around to Asriel as he looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"Let Alex take care of it."

 _"but…"_ Sans tried to argue, but knew deep down that Asriel was right. _"alright kiddo, but if they don't come back soon, i'm going after them."_

Asriel nodded in agreement before pulling Sans into the kitchen to be greeted by Papyrus. Together, the three of them began preparing a dish of pasta for Gaster, and probably leftovers too. However, the entire time they did this, Sans couldn't help but think about Frisk, Chara, and Alex. They've been through a lot, and he certainly wasn't thinking about that when he got so serious. He was just worried about them. Even if Sans didn't show it, he really cared for them.

* * *

Alex rain outside and saw no sign Frisk. However, knowing Frisk so well, he knew where to look. He ran around the house and climbed up a tall, large tree, whose leaves would prevent any outsiders from seeing what's within. He climbed high up into it until he reached a small, crudely built wooden platform around the trunk of the tree.

There, he spotted Frisk's blue shirt and jeans, but she was kneeling with her back toward Alex, unaware of his presence. As he got closer, her heard the telltale signs of a quiet sobbing coming from her as tears dropped onto the wood beneath her. However, she said not a word and seemed to be talking to Chara. Alex's guess was that some of the tears were hers and some were Chara's.

Alex's heart was breaking, seeing Frisk like this. He got on his knees and slowly approached her from behind before wrapping both arms around her and hugging her. She tensed up for a moment upon the first touch, but then turned around and hugged her dear friend back, burying her head into Alex's chest and sobbing, wetting his black shirt. But he didn't care about that, all he cared about at this moment as Frisk and Chara.

After a moment longer, Frisk sat up a bit and allowed Alex to see her face. She still had some tears streaming down her face, but had stopped for the most part, much calmer now. Alex looked into her beautiful brown eyes, seeing quick shimmers of red within them, signaling Chara's presence. Alex sent her them a small, silent smile, trying to make them a bit more comfortable.

Frisk sniffled and wiped away the last of her tears as she looked into Alex's eyes, felling much more comfortable with him there too. She smiled back at him, repaying his smile with one of her own. To Alex, it warmed his heart.

"Hey… Frisk… Chara… are you two ok?"

Frisk's eyes turned red as she spoke with a different, yet familiar voice. **"Alex… It's all my fault."**

Alex put a hand on Frisk's shoulder, "It's ok Chara. We're ok."

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes again, **"No, it's not ok. I… I almost killed that boy."**

Her eyes turned brown again, "Chara… It's my fault for waiting and putting you in that position."

 **"No. You don't understand. I was ABOUT to kill him. I wanted to. He... he deserved it.** "

Alex rushed forward a bit, wrapping Frisk/Chara tightly into another hug. She hugged back, fighting back any more tears. Alex spoke after a moment or two of comforting her, "Chara, why don't you talk about it then? We're both here for you. There must have been a reason you fought so hard against them other than because of me."

Chara hiccuped, quelling her crying as she backed up and looked Alex in the eyes. She also seemed to be talking to Frisk internally. She let out a soft sigh and smiled weakly, **"Heh, yeah… I suppose talking about it may make me feel a bit better…"**

She put on a more serious face for a moment while maintaining eye contact with Alex. **"But please… don't tell anyone…"** Alex nodded in a nanosecond with zero hesitation, calming Chara down a bit and making her smile, although it wasn't a very strong of confident one.

 **"It… it started with my parents…"** Alex paid close attention to her story as she began. **"They always neglected me. Not that I knew it at the time, but compared to how mom and dad are to us, they did next to nothing. My father… he beat me when I misbehaved."**

Alex looked at Chara in worry. She had been through a lot. "I can't believe it."

Chara looked at him and shook her head. **"No, that was just the 'usual' stuff. It all escalated on one fateful day. Back then, I only had one friend. One person who was nice to me. One person that made me think 'humanity can't be all bad'. But one day, I was proven wrong…"**

* * *

 ** _[Quick warning. A lot of violence. Many feels. Quite a bit of blood and death, with some suicidal thoughts and actions. You have been warned.]_**

* * *

Chara and Phillip were walking down the street late one night after they hung out by the lake. This lake, although rather dull and average, was a favorite spot for the two of them. As soon as school was over they would hang out there and just talk and hang out with each other. Chara never had any romantic interest in him, and neither did he for her. Rather, they saw each other as the best of pals.

It was pitch black out that night. The sky was cloudy and it was well past sunset. In fact, they were out much later than they normally were, but it didn't really matter. Well… it did, since her parents were going to 'punish' her when she got back for being late, but at least the time was spent with her closest and only friend in the world.

"Hey Phil, how much longer till we get back?"

Phillip looked over to his close friend and smiled. Chara could barely make out the smile in the dark, but smiled back in response. "Heh, come on Chara. You know the way just as well as I do. We only have another five minutes… unless of course, you wanna race?"

Chara shook her head, sending her short brown bangs twirling and brushing across her face. "No, I'm already late. What's the worst that could come of being another five minutes."

Phillip became a bit more serious, "Chara, what your parents are doing isn't alright."

Chara let a sigh escape her as she frowned, looking toward the ground, "Yeah… but no one's gonna help me. You know, I've called out before, begging for someone to help me. I've told the authorities. I've told my teachers. It only makes things worse."

Phillip frowned as she continued, "And the worst part about it is… no one comes. I just suffer. No matter who I tell, they either don't believe me or don't do anything about it."

Phillip stopped suddenly, grabbed Chara's hand, and squeezed it gently, "Chara!"

This took Chara by surprise. She froze and turned toward him, seeing his serious expression. It suddenly softened as he spoke, "Chara… I believe you."

Chara turned and hugged him, almost shedding a tear. She would have, but her parents always said 'No crying. Big kids don't cry." She whimpered into his light blue shirt, "T-thanks Phil…"

He smiled, "Don't mention it Chara…"

They continued on their walk until two men approached them. Both wore all black clothing, and one was standing in front of the other. "Hey kids. Out a bit past your bedtime, aren't we?"

Phillip put and arm over Chara's chest, lightly pushing her back behind him. "Y-yes sir. Heading home right now in fact. Actually, that's my place right there!" He said, pointing behind the two men. Chara knew that wasn't his house, but she also knew these men didn't seem like 'friendly concerned citizens'.

The man in front nodded slowly, "Ah, is that right? Well, why don't my friend and I escort you two home. We wouldn't want anything to happen to two young kids like yourselves."

"N-no thanks sir. We'll be quick." He said before the man in the back grabbed Chara's wrist tightly.

"Nonsense, it's not trouble at all."

With their eyes adjusted to the dark, Chara sent a silent plea to Philip through her eyes. He knew this wasn't going to end well. He slowly reached into his pocket to grab his pocket knife he always carried with him.

Chara's eyes went big as she knew what he was going to do. She was about to object when he suddenly leapt forward toward guy number two, pushing him with enough force to cause him to let go of Chara for a split second. He threw his pocket knife through the air toward Chara, which she caught right as she heard her friend say, "Chara! Run!"

On instinct and pure adrenaline, she immediately dashed forward before she was interrupted by guy number one, who grabbed her right arm tightly. "Where do you think you're going?"

With the knife in her hand, although she's never used one before, she slashed towards the guy, cutting him somewhere on the arm. He yelled out in pain as he let go of her. She ran away, as fast as she could toward her house. She ran up the path and went through the front door, not looking back once. She wanted to worry about Phil. She wanted to worry about her pursuers. But all she was worried about was her own survival.

When she got home her parents were not pleased that she was late. They barely questioned her about the blood on her green shirt or why she was out of breath. They heard her first 'excuse' and commanded the young girl to shut up before administering her 'punishment' for being late and a little extra for her 'lame excuses'.

 **I want to say that everything worked out after that. I want to say that those bad guys were found and Phillip hung out with me the very next day. Instead…**

The next day, Chara heard the news. Phillip was dead. He was found on the side of the road, where Chara and he encountered the men, dead. He was found with many cuts on his arms, and stab wounds on his chest and neck. Professionals told everyone that he was attacked on the way home, mugged, and stabbed to death. But… no one knew Chara had been with him moments before he died.

Chara hid herself in her room for a while after that, refusing to go back to the lake after that, especially after dark. She… she left Phillip to die. She abandoned her best friend when he needed it the most. She- she could have saved him, dammit. She smashed her hand into her desk in her room in frustration. Then… she paled.

"WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT HITTING MY STUFF CHARA!" She heard her father scream from down the hall. She could hear the man stomp down the hallway and force himself into her room. He looked down upon his daughter, who was shaking and pale with fear. "Well… looks like someone needs a reminder on the rules of this house." He said as he undid his leather belt with an iron belt buckle.

That belt had claimed countless drops of her blood. As he approached closer to her, she panicked and grabbed Phillip's knife from her pocket, which she's held onto since his death days prior. Her father's expression hardened and his red eyes grew darker. "Where did you get that? Who said you could have a knife?"

As he approached, Chara did her very first action against her father. She lashed out, slashing his leg with the blade as she kicked him in the same leg, sending the despicable man falling to the ground as he bellowed with rage. Then, she paled even further, realizing what she just done.

"You… YOU…" He said as he looked up to his daughter as he attempted to stand back up. "YOU FUCKING BITCH! YOU'RE DEAD NOW!" He said with as much hate as possible in his voice. She could see the killing intent in his eyes. There was no doubt in her mind now. He was going to kill her. Everything went into slow motion. She could barely register anything with her senses.

Then, she remembered Phillip. She lashed out, stabbing her father in the chest twice before trying to jump backwards to get out of his reach. He grabbed her by her hair tightly as he clutched at his chest with the other, trying to stop the bleeding. Chara was trying to figure out why he was still alive. She had never hurt someone before, much less try to kill someone. But… then the image of Phillip on the side of the road appeared in her head. He… he was stabbed in the neck. She panicked.

"YOU HEAR ME CHARA? YOU'RE FUCKING DEAD!" He screamed at her, which she ignored.

Then, she did so. Leaping onto him and sending the blade through his neck, releasing even more blood onto the grey carpet and her green shirt, which now had massive red stains. She watched as the life quickly faded from his eyes. She sat there, atop her father, in shock for several minutes. Her mother was gone at work for the day, but what should she do.

She looked down into her bloodstained hands and watched tears fall into them. Her father was dead. Her tormenter was dead. But… she felt empty. Neither bad nor relieved. Just… numb. Something changed inside her, but she knew not what it was. Little did she know, she had just earned her first few EXP.

There was nothing left for her here. He friend was gone because of her cowardice. Her father was dead and her mother would likely not forgive her. She… she ran.

She ran outside as fast as she could as dusk began to befall the world. She saw in the not-so-far distance the outline of Mount Ebott. 'The place where no one returned from.' She could escape there. No one would look for her there. She ran as fast as she could, ignoring any feelings. Any fatigue, any hunger, any worries. She ignored them and ran for over an hour.

Finally, she reached mountain and ran up it as fast as she could. She climbed the mountain, higher and higher until a storm came, soaking her and making her seek shelter. As the final rays of sunshine were leaving the Earth, she found a small cave, and within it, a hole. This hole had no visible bottom.

She stood there, at the edge, pondering what to do. She felt more tears roll down her face. Her best friend, Phillip, was dead because of her. Her father is dead because of her. She was a failure of a friend. A failure of a daughter. A failure of a human. Ah… humans. She despised them all. They cared not for Phillip's death. They cared not for her. They were all wretched. If it was up to her… she'd kill them all.

But… she was done. She was tired. There was nothing in the world worth living for. She made up her mind. She looked at the hole one final time before turning her back to the hole as she allowed gravity to do its thing.

She fell for what seemed like forever until she felt the worst feeling in the world. Worse than her father ever made her feel. She hit the ground hard, breaking many of her bones and showing her that she was very much alive still. Instinctively, she cried out in pain, echoing throughout the entire cave system she was in.

Though she did cry out, part of her hoped no one would come. No one ever came anyway. She wished she had died on impact rather than live. This was all one big huge mistake after huge mistake. Life seemed hopeless. She brought her head back down onto the small patch of flowers she had landed on, burying her head in the flowers and waiting for the arrival of death.

That is… until she heard a voice. It was a small, soft voice, coming from what sounded like a young boy. "H-hello? Are y-you ok?" The young voice asked, filled with concern and confusion

She looked up slightly and saw the figure of a young, goat-like being. He had white fur and was wearing a green and yellow striped sweater. He was… some kind of monster. His eyes were filled with concern upon seeing the young girl laying on the ground in pain and bleeding, her own blood and her father's mixed together. "You s-seem to have fallen done. What's your name?"

Chara was afraid, and started to feel a bit light headed. Not much was making sense, and this pain was starting to overcome the rest of her senses, but managed to reply. "M-my name is Chara."

"Chara? That's a nice name. My name is Asriel." He paused for a moment as he approached her. "You're hurt. My parents, they can help you." He said as she reached down and tried his best to hold the young human's weight as he carried her to his house. She was slipping in and out of consciousness, but… for some reason… she felt a bit safer now…

* * *

Chara looked back up to Alex, as she had been looking at the wooden platform beneath her for a moment. The moment she made eye contact with him again, as she finished her story, Alex rushed up to her, wrapping her in a tight embrace as he let tears of his own flow onto Frisk/Chara.

"C-Chara… I-… I'm so sorry!" He said as he tried to comfort Chara. Unbeknownst to him, Frisk was in a similar situation, trying desperately to hug Chara if she could as she felt awful for her. She couldn't help it and smiled weakly as she returned the embrace tightly with Alex and sobbed into his shirt too. She silently thanked Frisk and Alex.

 **"T-thanks you two…"** She took a small step back from the hug to look into Alex's eyes. **"You know… you and Frisk… You two are the reason I can believe in humanity again, and…"** She fought back more tears as she tried to finish her thought **. "… and seeing you being attacked by those bullies… I couldn't lose anyone else I cared about…"** She finally finished as tears returned to her face.

The children sat up in the tree for a while longer, comforting each other and enjoying each other's presence. After a few more minutes, they all climbed back down from the tree and returned to the skeleton's house just in time for them all to leave to their own home for dinner. Frisk/Chara, now in a much better mood, smiled for the rest of the night as they enjoyed the dinner with the skeletons, mom, dad, and their two siblings.

They had a nice talk with Asgore and Toriel about what happened at school and explained themselves before it ended with a group hug from everyone present. It was nice, everything was starting to look up. That night, they all went to their own beds. Asriel to his across from Frisk's and Alex above her. They couldn't see it, but Frisk's eyes became a soft red as Chara spoke one last time before bed.

 **"Goodnight guys… I love you…"** She said with a smile as she allowed sleep to overtake her and Frisk.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _So… that got kinda dark and sad. At least you all finally got some Chara backstory. Anyway, the whole story won't be like this, I promise. Also, I hope I didn't misrepresent anything, I don't know much about some things discussed in this chapter. Anyway, hope you enjoyed._**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	4. You got the Magic in You

The first week of school went by quickly without any further issues. The bullies he not shone their faces around them ever since the incident, likely because of their suspension. They have all bonded a bit further with Michael and Tiffany. Now, school was over and Toriel had to stay late for work, so the kids got to spend much longer with the skeletons and even have some of Papyrus' spaghetti for dinner, which has gotten much tastier since his time in the Underground.

Alex was sitting on the couch beside a snoozing Sans as he watched, from his comfortable spot, Papyrus teach Frisk and Asriel how to make proper spaghetti. Alex was smiling, watching the creation of a mess as the front door opened and a taller skeleton walked through it. Wearing his normal black coat and suit, Gaster closed the door behind him and smiled toward Alex and Sans.

 ** _"Good afternoon everyone."_** Gaster said as he walked inside.

"HEY DAD. WELCOME HOME. HOW WAS WORK." Papyrus shouted from the kitchen. Frisk and Asriel greeted him too.

Gaster sighed, but still smiled, **_"Busy and tiring, but not bad."_** He looked over to Alex and smiled a bit wider. **_"How are you doing today Alex?"_**

"I'm fine Mr. Gaster. Hey… um…"

Gaster stopped walking toward the stairs as he turned around toward Alex, **_"Yes Alex?"_**

"Remember when you told Frisk and I that you could teach us magic?"

Gaster chuckled, **_"Good memory Alex. Yes, what of it?"_**

"W-well, could you teach us soon?"

Gaster rubbed his chin for a moment, **_"Hmm, I'm not busy tomorrow. Perhaps you, Frisk, and Asriel could visit me at the lab tomorrow and I could try to teach you a little bit."_**

Alex jaw dropped as he stared at Gaster, "R-really?!" Gaster laughed and nodded as he turned back to the stairs and began to climb them. Alex quickly jumped up from his spot on the couch and dashed over to the kitchen to tell his siblings the good news. The quick movement stirred Sans awake, so he got up and followed Gaster to his room, knocking on the door before walking in.

 _"heya G, is teaching 'em magic such a good idea?"_

Gaster turned toward his son and nodded, his face looking a bit more serious, **_"Yes Sans. If I can get the QMA up and running soon, they should know how to use magic for defensive purposes."_**

Sans nodded in agreement. He knew how dangerous some timelines may end up being. _"alright, just be careful with 'em."_

Gaster's expression softened as he smiled, **_"Don't worry Sans, I'll be as careful as I can."_**

* * *

The next day couldn't come fast enough for the Dreemurrs. Finally, the day came and the sun rose as they quickly begged their parents to take them to Gaster's lab. After a quick phone call to the scientist, who agreed that he could watch them for the day, they agreed and dropped off the kids at his lab, a large white building about three stories tall.

After they got out of the car, they all turned to Asgore and Toriel in the front seats, with Toriel driving. "My children, please behave for Doctor Gaster." They all nodded and promised they would be on their best behavior. She smiled, "Good. Asgore and I will be near our phones all day, should you wish to talk to one of us, ok?"

"Yes mom." The all said in unison. She laughed as she slowly drove off. They three of them then took off at a run toward the entrance to the lab. As they got closer they saw Gaster, wearing is usual suit and lab coat and leaning against the wall beside the door, waiting for the children.

 ** _"Good morning children. Ready to see my lab?"_**

Asriel began to whine, "But what about them learning magic!"

Gaster laughed, **_"All in good time Asriel. Besides, my lab will help explain how each of their magics work."_**

Asriel nodded as they followed him inside, down the hall, and into the main lab. Alex pointed toward a large ring-like structure in the corner of the room. "What's that thing."

Gaster smiled, **_"That is my Quantum Multiversal Accelerator, or QMA for short. When completed it would allow travel into other timelines and realities."_**

All three children's eyes grew twice their normal size, all saying the same thing: "Whoa…"

Gaster walked over to another machine with what looked like a hand-held scanner. Frisk spoke this time, "Dr. Gaster, what's this?" She asked, pointing to the scanner.

He smiled again. He loved explaining this kinda stuff, especially to those who were genuinely intrigued by this sort of stuff. **_"This, Frisk, is a Soul Scanner. I can use it to scan a monster's or human's soul to see its soul trait, the LV amount, the magic potential, and all sorts of other useful information. Speaking of, come over here for a moment Alex."_**

Alex nodded and took a few steps to be right in front of Gaster. Gaster took part of the scanner into his hands and scanned Alex's chest for a moment until it made a beep sound. He then brought up the results on the monitor attached to the device.

 ** _"Alright Alex, from what I've learned about souls of Purity so far, you have a wide range of magical abilities, but they are also very limited."_**

"How so?" Alex asked, curious as to how their magic works.

 ** _"So, your soul's trait is Purity, and based on your past experiences, I'm sure you're familiar with your ability known as 'Purify'."_**

Alex nodded, "Yeah, but what exactly does that do?"

 ** _"Well, it appears to be able to remove any outside influence on other souls, such as forced control in my case…"_** Gaster looked away in shame for a moment, frowning.

 _"heya G, no need to get all blue. i red somewhere that being blue could keep ya in a gray mood."_

Frisk turned to see Sans sitting on a chair, slowly spinning counterclockwise, "Well, that came out of the blue."

Asriel groaned externally while Chara was likely doing the same within Frisk's head. However, it brought a smile to Alex's and Gaster's faces as they laughed from the horrible color puns. Asriel groaned for a moment longer, "That was horrible Sans."

Sans made his boney hands into guns and punted them both at Asriel, _"dontcha mean hor-rib-le?"_

This prompted another round of laughter and groaning. Gaster shook his head as Sans spoke again, _"so dad, you showing alex what we learned about purity souls so far?"_

Gaster nodded with a smile on his face still, **_"Yes Sans. And speaking of colors…"_** Gaster turned back to Alex and his machine, **_"There is a second part to your soul and magic. You remember your fights in the underground where your soul would change color, right?"_**

Both Alex and Frisk nodded, remembering the amazing colors that Alex's soul had become. **_"Well, we've since learned that if a Purity soul is exposed to enough of a soul trait, it can mimic the soul powers of that trait. Meaning, you can use soul magic and the soul modes associated with them if you are exposed to enough of said trait or emotion. Furthermore, your soul seems to be able to even use more advanced and powerful forms of these 'Soul Modes'."_**

Alex's eyes widened, "Like how with enough Determination, my soul came back together. And with enough Kindness I could make two shields AND move around."

Gaster nodded, **_"Exactly, however you are unable to do that kind of stuff without exposure. But, I've been working on a way for you to be able to use that magic without the same type of exposure."_**

Everyone stared in amazement at Gaster, who smiled mischievously before turning to Frisk, **_"But first I must discuss Frisk's magic."_**

Gaster took the scanner and scanned it over Frisk's chest, making the machine update and display data on her soul. **_"Frisk, you are obviously a soul of Determination. While you are able to Save, Load, …and Reset…"_** Gaster saw an involuntary shiver run down Sans' spine as the same happened to him upon mentioning 'Resets'. **_"…You also have more power than that."_**

"R-really?" Frisk asked in surprise.

 ** _"Yes. You see here?"_** Gaster asked, pointing to some data next to the soul on the screen. Frisk, Alex, and Asriel all nodded. **_"These reading are similar to those of other monsters like Undyne and Asgore. This is showing that you should be able to manifest certain object at will, made completely out of magic."_**

Asriel spoke up, all excited, "So Frisk could create epic weapons out of thin air with magic?"

Gaster nodded, **_"Furthermore, it seems that Chara would be able to do the same once she regains a body. The only limitation with this Determination magic is… well, their Determination. As long as you 'stay determined'"_** Gaster used his hand to make air quotes, **_"You should be able to keep the weapons manifested."_**

Frisk spoke up, her soft and delicate voice was filled with excitement, "This is so cool!" Her eyes were filled with wonder. "What about Alex? You said you had a way for him to use magic, like, whenever?"

Gaster chucked, **_"Yes, yes. Sans, would you be so kind as to bring the Trait Synthesizer?"_**

 _"ya got it boss."_ He said with a slight tone of sarcasm as he disappeared into one of his shortcuts before immediately appearing back in his seat holding some sort of bracelet. Gaster narrowed his eyes at Sans as he walked over to him to retrieve it.

 ** _"You know, you could learn a thing or two from your brother about be proactive…"_**

 _"yeah, but learning takes time and energy. i'm too lazy to use either of 'em."_

Gaster shook his head in disapproval as the kids snickered behind him. He turned back to them and walked over to Alex, showing him the metallic bracelet. **_"This is my prototype Trait Synthesizer. With it, it can inject small doses of synthesized traits into your body, temporarily giving you the power of that trait."_** Gaster turned the bracelet over to show Alex three small bubble of plastic on the bottom. **_"It can store up to three doses of up to three different soul traits."_**

Alex's eyes were huge as he spoke a single word, conveying the feeling he felt perfectly, "Whoa…"

Gaster chuckled, **_"Haha, I thought you'd like it."_** He then motioned to a small shelf nearby, filled with vials of various colors, **_"I have been able to manufacture small amounts of these traits that could be used. If you would like, I could show you how it works."_**

All three children began to rapidly nod their heads in agreement. Gaster laughed. He thought so. He motioned for them to follow as he led them to the basement level. Down there, the walls were thick and the ceiling was high. There were only two large rooms down here, used for testing possibly dangerous experiments. This would be the perfect spot to test their magic. He took the bracelet in his hand and injected some Kindness substance into the first spot, some Justice into the second, and a bit of Bravery into the third.

He led Asriel and Frisk a few steps away from Alex to give him room as he explained what to do to Alex while simultaneously setting up some training dummies on the other end of the room. Of course, these were all uninhabited by ghosts.

 ** _"Now Alex, in order to use it, you simply take a finger and push in the plastic bubble of your choosing. It will drain all of the trait out of the compartment and inject it into you painlessly, giving you a short window of time to use the power."_** Alex nodded in understanding as the last of the dummies were set up. He walked back over to Alex before continuing.

 ** _"Let's start you off easy. Try the first bubble first, the trait of Kindness."_**

Alex nodded as he put the bracelet on his wrist and pressed the first bubble in, which was relatively easy. He felt a quick prick as his senses were flooded with Kindness. Alex could feel his soul resonating and adapting to the Kindness. He… He was filled with Pure Kindness. Alex turned around to look at Gaster, who had a small smile on his face. He nodded, giving Alex all the information her needed as he prepped to use the magic.

Alex widened his stance and took in a deep breath before he moved again. He focused his entire soul toward his arms, trying to summon the dual shields he had before. Suddenly, they appeared on his arms, two large circular shields that felt weightless, yet strong enough to stop almost anything. Alex couldn't help the large smile that appeared on his face. Then he heard the cheering.

"Alright Alex!" Asriel cheered loudly from behind. Alex turned around to see Asriel jumping up and down with joy. Gaster was smiling and clapping at Alex's success. He looked to Frisk to see the cutest smile on her face as she held a thumbs-up to him. It warmed his heart, seeing her like this, but he knew he wouldn't say anything. Then he heard a voice behind him.

 _"nice job kiddo. you just gonna stare at her or what?"_ Alex quickly spun back around with a small amount of fear on his face to see Sans standing there with a smirk. Sans saw the look on his face and shrugged, _"hey, don't worry pal. i won't say anything. i'm not heartless… well actually, i guess i am."_ He said with a chuckle.

Alex calmed down a bit and relaxed. Luckily, no one else heard him. Gaster then shouted out toward Alex, **_"Great job. Now, I would advise against using two or more traits at once. I'm not sure how the conflict of traits would affect your soul, so you should probably avoid that."_**

They all spent the next few hours down there practicing their magic. Asriel got a bit better with his fire magic and seemed to show signs of healing magic, just like his mother. Frisk was able to form a few objects, like a stick, a ball, and a few other things. However, she was unable to come up with a weapon she felt comfortable with, although Chara did try unsuccessfully to convince her to summon a knife. Alex tried out the Justice and Bravery traits as well, once again allowing him to fire magical energy bursts and affect his speed. Both him and Gaster are unsure whether Bravery slows time down for the user or allows everyone else to feel as if the user is moving faster.

Before they all finished, Gaster took back the prototype device from Alex for the time being and put it away. Finally, it was time for them to go back up and they returned to the main lab right as Papyrus pulled up in his car and came inside. "GREETINGS EVERYONE. HOW WAS YOUR DAY?" Everyone smiled as the kids all tried to tell him at once, with little success. They all prepared to leave when Gaster felt a vibration in his pocket.

 ** _"You all go on ahead home, I have something I need to take care of first."_** They all nodded in understanding as they all walked out to Papyrus's car, but not before Papyrus tried to get Gaster to come home now. Finally, Papyrus gave up and brought everyone to the car to drive home for some spaghetti.

Once they arrived at the skeleton's household, Gaster was already waiting for them, having already completed what he was doing. Alex, Frisk, and Asriel spent their dinner talking excitedly about their magic and how cool their day had been to Papyrus. Papyrus eagerly listened, ecstatic that his friends were learning how to hone their magical skills. They finished their spaghetti and hung out around the house until Toriel and Asgore arrived.

* * *

Once their parents arrived, they proceeded to tell them all about their awesome day with Gaster and everything they learned. Toriel was particularly pleased to learn her son was able to use healing magic and that both human children were able to use magic as well. They all said goodnight to Gaster, Sans, and Papyrus as they headed home. As soon as they left, Gaster left the table to go to his room to work a bit on some schematics before going to bed, as he does every night.

"GOODNIGHT DAD!"

 _"night G."_

Gaster smiled as he climbed the stairs and entered his room before pulling out the schematics for his QMA. He was close now, perhaps he could get it running within a few days. However, that was not what he was interested in at the moment. He pulled out a device from his pocket and examined it. He had received some sort of message from someone.

But… this someone was someone from another timeline. Another universe even. Gaster had not had any contact with anyone outside of his timeline since his encounter with Core Frisk. He hadn't listened to the message yet, but finally gained the courage to hear it. Somehow, the message was recorded in audio rather than visually. He pressed play on it, listening to an eerily familiar voice. He knew exactly who he was listening to, which made the message ever the more eerie.

 ** _"DR. W D GASTER."_** Gaster's eye sockets widened as he heard his name being spoken. **_"I KNOW ABOUT YOUR TIMELINE. I KNOW THAT YOU WERE UNABLE TO REVIVE BOTH CHARA AND ASRIEL. WHAT IF I TOLD YOU I COULD HELP YOU SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM?"_** There was a pause for a moment.

 ** _"I HAVE A PROPOSAL FOR YOU. YOU HAVE MY COORDINATES. YOU KNOW HOW TO REACH THE VOID. IF YOU ARE INTERESTED, CONTACT ME AND I WILL GIVE YOU THE DETAILS. UNTIL WE MEET, DR. GASTER…"_**

The message ended, a mixture of relief, confusion, and worry all flooded Gaster's senses. Was there really a way to help Chara? But that wasn't the worst part. Gaster knew himself pretty well. If there was another Gaster willing to help him, he must need help. And… knowing himself pretty well, it would take an emergency to get him to ask someone else for help, especially someone from another timeline.

 ** _"Well… better get working on the QMA…"_** Gaster said quietly to himself before teleporting to his lab to get some work done on his device. This might be the breakthrough he was looking for.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _ ** _This chapter was a bit lighter than last one, which is good..._** Questions, comments, concerns, congratulations, complements, or any such stuff? Leave a review, PM, or follow/fav. Hope you've enjoyed it so far.  
_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	5. Sleepover

The remainder of the weekend went by rather fast and school began quite quickly as well. It was now somewhere in the middle of the week, but Gaster had lost track of the days. After that message from an alternate Gaster he's been hard at work trying to get the QMA up and running again. Together with Sans and Alphys, he's managed to get the machine to nearly the condition required for a test run.

"D-dr. Gaster t-the machine s-stopped leaking r-radiation."

 ** _"Perfect. What was the problem?"_**

Sans peaked out from behind the portal frame, _"well G, looks like there was a malfunction with the shielding unit. alphys found the error and patched it all up."_

Gaster sighed in relief and smiled to Alphys, **_"Excellent work Dr. Alphys."_**

Alphys blushed a bit and smiled, doing her best not to stutter, "T-thanks Dr. Gaster." Gaster was impressed. Alphys knew her stuff pretty well, and even spotted an error he hadn't even seen. And Sans too, when it got serious, he was actually quite a good worker.

 ** _"Sans, could you go check on the Core Connection Cable. We need to make sure it's still intact after that our last trial run."_**

Sans winked, _"you got it, G."_ Sans teleported away for a moment, giving time for Gaster to talk with Alphys.

 ** _"Doctor Alphys, did you ever finish the return device?"_**

Alphys nodded and walked over to her friend/ boss. "Yes. The p-prototype schematics y-you gave me were re-really helpful, but I made a f-few adjustments. T-that i-is, if it's o-ok with you."

Gaster smiled and shook his head, **_"No Alphys, it's fine."_** Alphys held out the device in her hand and Gaster took a look at it. **_"Dr. Alphys, you have once again exceeded my expectations. Excellent work!"_**

"T-thanks sir." She said, smiling and turning back to the monitors she was watching. Right then, Sans reappeared in the room, smiling. _"the whole cable is still intact."_ He said, winking and giving a thumbs-up. He looked rather professional in his lab coat and black shoes. Unfortunately, he was still wearing his blue hoodie underneath it.

 ** _"Alright everyone, are we ready for QMA Trial 28?"_**

They both agreed with him as they returned to their stations and began to boot up the portal. "A-all systems are ready."

 _"magic energy at 85% capacity."_

 ** _"Sans, remove current regulators from the Core Cable."_**

 _"you sure about this, G?"_ Gaster nodded, making Sans shrug as he did as he was asked, removing all safeties from the cable and allowing the maximum current to go through it. _"magic energy capacity has been surpassed. it's… it's going to burn out the wires!"_

Gaster quickly turned to Alphys, **_"Dr. Alphys, open all channels on the joints of the QMA."_**

Alphys quickly pressed a few buttons on her keyboard as the eight soul-shaped lights on the joints of the portal began to glow a bright red. "G-gaster, the power is st-still building too quickly!"

Gaster looked over to Sans, whose eye sockets were wide with concern, _"G, magic energy is at 130% capacity. it can't take much more."_

 ** _"Keep it steady. We're so close."_** Gaster quickly typed a few commands into his consol. Almost there. Just a moment longer. He typed out the final necessary command, but didn't yet press enter. **_"Almost there…"_**

 ** _"NOW!"_** Gaster yelled as he pressed enter on the final command as Alphys and Sans both did the same on their own computers. Suddenly, the entire lab shuddered as the hearts on the joints began to glow a soft purple rather than the previous crimson red. Gaster could hear many of their other machines powering down while the QMA hummed quietly.

 ** _"We… we did it!"_** Gaster jumped up into the air with joy as Sans and Alphys ran over to join him. They all shook hands with each other and celebrated getting the machine up and running. **_"Great job you two. I never would have gotten it working if it weren't for the two of you."_**

"N-no problem D-Dr. Gaster."

 _"yeah G, you're the hero here."_

Gaster then went over to the main console attached to the device and shut it down. **_"Perfect, now that we got it to finally work, we can activate it whenever we want. We did it everyone. We breached the Fabric of Space and Time and opened a gateway to alternate realities."_**

* * *

Later that evening, Gaster booted up the portal alone and synced it with the readings gathered from the recording he reached earlier in the week. After a moment, it opened and Gaster walked through it to establish contact with his doppelganger. After walking through, Gaster noticed he was once again in the Void, but not his version of it.

He only had a moment to look around before the other Gaster appeared before him. This one looked much like how he had looked in the Void, mostly formless and in a liquefied state. The bottom half of his body was joined together as it touched the ground. His cracks and holes in his hands were in much worse condition. The only difference being that this Gaster never got the six souls, and thus his power was still very limited.

 **"aH DoCTor. sO gLAd tO FinALly MeEt YoU!"**

Gaster tilted his head, looking at his doppelgänger. He had forgotten how corrupted and error-filled he had been in the void without the power of human souls. Gaster kept a straight face as he spoke, **_"We both know we have little patience for trivial matters. I trust this is not one?"_**

The amorphous blob before him straightened up a bit and smiled. His cracks on his head continuously shifting and changing positions. **_"yES. iT Is RefResHInG tO seE a GasTeR sImiLAr tO mYSeLf."_**

Gaster shook his head, **_"You said you knew how to revive my Chara? How?"_**

The Gaster before him smiled, **_"sIMpLE. YoU DiD nOt hAVe eNouGh mAgIC EsSenCE iN yOUr TimElINe, So yOu CaN HAVe sOmE FRoM mINe!"_**

Gaster raised one of his arms and shrugged, **_"You make it sound so simple. Yet, we both know there's a reason you wanted me, of all Gasters. Why me? What do I have that you want?"_**

The other Gaster let out a horrible, distorted laugh, as if the answer to the question he was just asked was blatantly obvious. **_"i wANt AlEX."_**

Gaster took a step back and his eyes widened a bit in fear for a split second. He even contemplated shutting down the device and returning home. It would cut off the other Gaster, and the shutdown rift created from the immediate shutdown would likely damage this version of himself, making him no threat. However, as much as this shocked him, he didn't feel that doing something like that to another Gaster was ethical in any way.

Gaster finally spoke again, **_"Why Alex? Why do you need him?"_**

The Gaster before him now looked a little sad, looking down at the floor for a moment before talking again, **_"My TiMELinE iS iN DaNGeR. mY FrIsK NeeDS hELp. HeLP onLY SomEOnE lIkE AlEx cOuLD GiVe. If YoU sENd AlEX aNd He hELPs, I WilL gIVe yOU tHe ESsenCe YoU ReQuiRe fOR ChaRa."_**

Gaster though about this for a moment. This seemed kind of fair. If his timeline was in danger, he would likely do the same thing and seek help from another timeline. **_"Wait, you need Alex? That means your timeline is similar to mine. Why not get your Alex to help?"_**

The monster before him shook his head, **_"DoN't yOU ReMEmbEr? siX MonThS mUsT gO By bEfoRe hE fALls."_**

Gaster shook his head in anger at himself and face-palmed. Or, at least he would have if he didn't have a hole in his palm. Of course. Alex only first appears after six months, so if the timeline was in danger, and with the little amount of control Gaster had, he'd need outside help and would be unable to wait.

 ** _"I see. How long would it take? Only about a day or two, right?"_**

The other Gaster nodded, **_"wiLL yOU HeLp mE?"_**

Dr. Gaster put his hand forward, prompting the other Gaster to take it as they shook hands. **_"I will talk to Alex, but I believe we have a deal. It is not dangerous in your timeline, right?"_**

The other Gaster stuck out his hand and shook his head, **_"oF CouRSe nOt. FrISk siMPlY NeEdS hElP ReDiScoVEring hERselF."_** Dr. Gaster took his hand and shook it slowly. Somehow, his hand remained solid for the entire duration of the handshake.

Gaster nodded and said goodbye to his doppelgänger before he left as he closed the QMA. Now that everything was peaceful and quiet, he'd need to find a way to get Alex over to the lab and an excuse to have him stay for a day or so. But what?! Gaster rubbed his chin softly with his hand before an idea came to his head.

* * *

"A sleepover?" Toriel asked into the receiver of her cell phone. She had been caught off guard by Gaster's proposal just moments earlier. He was offering Alex to come over and stay the weekend with the Skeletons. "What about Frisk and Asriel? Surely they would want to come too."

 ** _"Well… You see Mrs. Dreemurr… We wanted to have a surprise sleepover for the three of them separately, then they could come over together another time. I'd rather not discuss it now, but I've got some cool surprises for Alex, Frisk, and Asriel."_**

"Oh." Toriel replied. A surprise for Alex, and some surprised for both of her other children? It would be pretty great for them each to go over individually and have a good time. "Well… Alright. I won't have to stay after school tomorrow, so you could pick Alex up and take him straight there, it that's alright with you."

 ** _"Of course. It would be no problem at all. And I'm sure Alex will have a great time."_**

"Alright Dr. Gaster, I'll tell him. Have a good night."

 ** _"You too, your highness."_**

Toriel chuckled, hearing her title used like that, "Please, Toriel is fine."

 ** _"Haha, alright. Have a good evening Toriel."_** *beep*

Toriel then went back to work, preparing the last of the food for dinner. That evening at the dinner table, she told Alex about the sleepover, which he responded by getting extra excited while Frisk and Asriel whined, of course. Now, Alex just had to wait , which seemed almost impossible.

* * *

The next day at school went by like it was nothing. Mister Sower was nice enough to give out no homework for the weekend though, which was a pretty cool thing to do for them. As school ended, Frisk and Asriel bid Alex goodbye with a group hug that even Chara took part of. They all then made their way to Toriel's car as Alex approached Papyrus and his sleek red car.

"GREEETINGS ALEX, HOW WAS YOUR DAY AT SCHOOL?"

"It was cool, but not as cool as you!" Alex said. Right on cue, Papyrus struck his heroic pose, bringing his fist to his chest and standing tall and proud with his prized orange scarf flowing in the breeze.

"OF COURSE. NOT MUCH CAN EVEN HOPE TO COME CLOSE TO ME IN COOLNESS."

Alex laughed, "Right you are Papyrus, right you are."

Alex nodded, letting his smile overcome the rest of his face as he jumped into the convertible's passenger seat with his backpack full of stuff for the sleepover. Papyrus cranked the engine and let it roar as he pulled out of the school. Alex watched as most of the kids stared with open jaws at the display. Alex was proud to have a cool friend like Papyrus.

After the five-minute drive, the arrived at the skeleton household. They walked inside to find Sans, like always, napping the rest of his day away on the couch. Papyrus quietly shushed Alex as he picked him up and tossed him through the air, guiding him gently through the air using his blue magic, towards Sans' sleeping form.

Impact successfully. Alex landed on Sans' chest perfectly, but not too hard. Sans jolted away and saw the human sitting on his chest. _"heya pal, i'm bone tired and you're crushing my ribs."_

"NO HE'S NOT SANS."

 _"well, guess i need a bit more spine."_

"SANS, ENOUGH. AND YOU'RE REACHING FOR THAT ONE."

 _"c'mon bro, it was a real rib tickler."_

"GAAHHH ENOUGH!"

" _didja lose your funny bone or something?"_

"SANS! ONE MORE AND THAT'S IT!"

Sans sighed, _"fine, alright bro. i'm done."_

"THANK YOU SANS."

 _"… for now…"_

Papyrus shook his head and walked off toward the kitchen. Sans turned to look at Alex and saw they had buried their head into a pillow to avoid laughing aloud during the brotherly quarrel.

 _"what, you thought that was funny?"_

"Haha, you're always funny Sans!"

Sans smiled the most genuine smile he's ever had, _"aww, come 'ere pal."_ He said as he extended his arms, inviting Alex in for a hug. Alex was a sucker for hugs and gave one to Sans without trying to think of any possible consequences for doing so. Alex hugged hum tightly before hearing a very ominous sound coming from Sans' ribs. Alex heard the sound of several inhales, which didn't mean something good.

Sans smirked as he pulled up of his sleeves to show he had his whole ribcage filled with screaming rubber chickens. Wait, those weren't here before. Then Alex remembered that Sans could teleport stuff. Alex smirked in response and whispered into Sans' ear area so as not to release the screams, "…clever…"

Sans whispered back, _"thanks, i try. no fibula."_

Alex laughed quietly before he turned his head and yelled, "Papyrus, group hug time!" Sans' grin managed to grow a bit bigger.

Papyrus came running in an instant and wrapped Sans and Alex into a super tight hug, causing more inhales from more chickens, which Papyrus didn't notice. "AWW, I LOVE OUR GROUP HUGS!"

It was right then that Gaster walked into the house, **_"Sans, Papyrus, I'm home!"_**

"DAD. WELCOME HOME DAD. WE MISSED YOU. I'LL HUG YOU IN JUST A MOMENT. WE MUST FINISH OUR GROUP HUG FIRST."

Sans looked over to Alex with an even larger smirk. _"ok paps, i think you can go give dad that hug now."_

Papyrus smiled widely, not knowing why his other hug buddies were smiling. Unfortunately, his smile faded the moment he let go of the hug as the entire house was filled with the sound of screaming, dying, rubber chickens. The amazing chorus of screams echoed throughout the house and vibrated every resident to their core as they sang their majestic song. The only thing that rivaled Papyrus' horrified face was the look of disappointment on Gaster's.

The two pranksters rolled back and forth on the couch as the screaming came to an end. Papyrus, looking mortified, tried his best to sternly talk to them, "SANS! ALEX! WHY?!"

Alex smirked, looking at Sans before responding, "I guess you could say that prank was eggscelent."

Sans tried his best not to let out a laugh as he spoke too, " _yeah, i was kinda chicken at first, but it turned out well."_ Both Alex and Sans laughed a bit more as Gaster tried not to laugh from their jokes. As loud and obnoxious as the prank was, it was pretty funny. Papyrus did not agree.

"BAAHHH, WHATEVER? I'M GOING BACK TO MAKING OUR SPAGHETTI!" Papyrus then stormed off to the kitchen, trying his best not to show his own amusement at the pranks. Gaster smiled toward the two pranksters and walked up stairs to put some of his stuff away.

* * *

The rest of the night occurred rather normally came to an end and Gaster pulled Alex to the side to speak with him. He invited the boy up to his room, where he quickly arrived and shut the door behind him.

 ** _"Alex… how are you enjoying the sleepover so far?"_**

Alex was beaming, "I'm having an awesome time. I get to stay all weekend? This is awesome!"

Gaster smiled weakly and nodded before speaking again, **_"Alex, how much do you care about Chara?"_**

Alex internally sighed in relief that Gaster had not ended that question with a word that rhymed with 'risk'. "She's like a sister to me. I care a lot about her. Why?"

Gaster sighed, seeing on further use in avoiding the topic, **_"Remember when I mentioned that I could see other realties? Other timelines?"_** Alex nodded, listening attentively. ** _"Well, I was contacted by another version of me with a proposal. He said his Frisk was in trouble and needed your help, specifically. If you agreed to help, he would donate the magic essence required to revive Chara… But it's up to you. If you choose not to I can look for another way, but I fir-"_**

Alex interrupted, "I'll do it!"

Gaster reacted with a quick jolt of surprise. **_"R-really? Why?"_**

Alex shrugged, but had a confident expression on their face. Gaster could tell, he was filled with Pure Determination as he spoke, "If the situation were reversed, I'm sure Frisk or Chara or Asriel would come and help me too."

Gaster looked a bit more serious, **_"You do know you will be on your own, right?"_**

Alex looked a bit surprise but nodded anyway, "It's ok. I can do it."

Gaster nodded, **_"Are you sure? There could certainly be another way."_**

Alex ignored him, "So, when do I do it?"

Gaster looked the boy in the eyes, **_"Whenever you're ready, but your parents and siblings don't know about this… just in case…"_** Gaster muttered that last part quietly.

"Well, then why don't we get ready now? That way I could finish it quickly and return to enjoy the rest of the sleepover?" Alex had a huge smile on his face. He wa pretty excited. This sleepover would allow him to save Chara, explore a new world, and hang out with the skeleton brothers. Best. Sleepover. Ever.

Gaster extended his hand toward the young human, **_"Take my hand and we can go now. I'll tell my sons something that won't make them worry."_** Alex smiled confidently and took his hand, nodding in approval. They then disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

When they arrived at the lab, Gaster got the machine prepared and powering on as he prepared Alex for the journey. He held out a device which appeared similar to the Prototype Trait Synthesizer. Gaster filled it with three different traits. One bubble was filled with Kindness, the second was filled with Bravery, and the other was empty.

 ** _"Alex, what trait would you like to be in the third bubble for your trait bracelet? I have Patience, Perseverance, Justice, and Integrity."_**

"What about Determination?"

Gaster scratched the back of his neck lightly as he made a more serious expression on his face, **_"Determination is very dangerous and unstable. I fear what would happen if you had too much or more than Frisk and Chara. It could affect the timeline"_**

Alex looked a little disappointed, but understood his caution. He rubbed his chin in deep thought. "Hmm, I choose Integrity."

Alex laughed and nodded in agreement. Gaster handed him the braclet which he immediately put on. Gaster had told him that it shouldn't be dangerous, but just in case, Alex brought along his bone sword (The Clavicle) and his Friendship Bracelet. With both equipped, he felt ready to go. He looked at the swirling purple vortex that spun silently within the portal frame before him, he was memorized by the portal.

Gaster gave him a small backpack carrying a plate of Papyrus' Spaghetti and a Nice Cream. Alex looked at Gaster with slight confusion. "Why the food?" he asked.

 ** _"I am not 100% sure where you'll end up. In the Underground, indefinitely, but your exact location is unknown. In case you are somewhere far from everyone else you will have some food."_** Alex nodded.

Gaster handed him one final item. It was a small device, the size of a flip phone. Alex looked at it with curiosity. **_"This is the return device. When you finish in that timeline, simply press the 'RETURN' button and it'll teleport you back here. Are you ready?"_**

Alex paused, thinking for a moment, "Is there anything else I should know?"

Gaster spent a split-second thinking before he started his response, **_"Only one more thing. Whatever you do, do not let Frisk RESET while you are there. A RESET of the timeline with a foreign entity like you would cause a paradox, likely violently ejecting you from the timeline."_**

Alex paled for a moment before he nodded and took another step forward and turned back around to face Gaster. He was now only a step or two away from entering the vortex.

 ** _"Alex, I will be unable to help you from this side, but try to find Sans and Papyrus. They can help you find and help Frisk."_**

Alex nodded as they took one final step towards the portal. Right before they entered, they heard one final thing from Gaster. **_"Stay Determined!"_** Then, Alex plunged into the vortex, disappearing from their own timeline and venturing into another. As they plunged into it, they felt a splitting headache, as if a sonic boom opened within their own mind. It was almost as if their own mind had been shattered and repaired into one piece, all within a nanosecond. They could no longer handle it. As time and space weaved around them like a current, Alex blacked out.

* * *

Sans' walk had turned into a run in an instant. Everything had gone so wrong; how could he not have seen it all coming? He was so stupid! And now, his stupidity has landed Papyrus into the cross-hairs. His run was now a sprint. Yes, he would teleport, but he had no idea where Papyrus was. He could be anywhere, and teleporting around would probably result in himself landing in the cross-hairs, or he would get too tired to continue.

This was the most energy Sans had ever used before as he sprinted through the tree in the forest right outside of Snowdin. He could hear Papyrus' voice in the distance, but the echoes across the walls of the Underground and among the trees made locating his brother impossible.

He could barely make out what his brother was saying, but what he did hear made him wish he could go faster. "IT FEELS… LIKE YOUR LIFE IS GOING DOWN A DANGEROUS PATH." Sans knew exactly who, or what, Papyrus was talking to.

He kept running, using every last ounce of stamina the skeleton had and then some. As he continued running through the trees, the fog became thicker as he heard Papyrus speak again, "EVERYONE CAN BE A GREAT PERSON IF THEY TRY!"

"I WILL TURN YOUR LIFE RIGHT AROUND!" He could here Papyrus shouting with little hint of concern for his own well-being. That was the greatest thing about Papyrus, he was so pure. Unfortunately, Sans knew all too well that it could lead to trouble, like it likely was doing now.

Sans was getting closer. He could hear his brother's voice, it was much clearer than before. "I, PAPYRUS, WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS!" This last phrase sent Sans into a frenzy. There's no way Papyrus could let them get that close to him. He had no other choice. Not knowing exactly where he'd end up, Sans forced open a shortcut and teleported forward.

His surroundings of trees were immediately replaced with his head in the snow. He got up immediately and sprinted forward again. He must be incredibly close now. Where was Papyrus? Then, right as Sans reached the foggy clearing and made it to the edge of the tree line, he heard the worst sound of his life.

Sans heard the sound of bones breaking. He looked and saw Papyrus' figure dissolve into dust before his eyes with the human standing before his brother's head. "BUT… ST- STILL! I BELIEVE IN YOU!" YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER… EVEN IF YOU DON'T THINK SO! I… I PROMISE…"

Hearing Papyrus barely mutter those words broke Sans' heart. His soul ached. He was unable to move from his spot. Unable to cry out and scream. Then, staring down at Papyrus' still smiling and innocent head, the human put their foot on his skull and crushed it beneath their heel, grinding what was left of Sans' brother into dust beneath her feet.

Sans couldn't form a response. The human simply laughed a heartless laugh and continued further, entering into Waterfall after killing everyone they could in Snowdin. Sans rushed over to the pile of dust as tears began to flow from his eye sockets.

 _"…no… paps… why…"_ Sans could barely speak as he tried desperately to put his brother's dust back together. Then, he saw the only reminder of his brother, his red scarf. Sans held it close to his chest as she sobbed, allowing his tears to fall onto the dust beneath him.

What kind of person what take pleasure in doing something like this? They weren't acting in self-defense. They actively sought out and destroyed every monster they could get their dust filled hands on. And the lady behind the door… yeah, she was likely just a pile of dust too.

Sans sat there in the snow and dust, crying and sobbing into his brother's scarf. He had no reason to live anymore. The only thing that helped keep him moving was gone from his life. His joy, his happiness, everything. Gone with a single stroke of a blade.

Sans sat there, unable to move. Wishing desperately for a Reset. But he knew… deep down… that there very well may never be another Reset ever again.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _I bet you can't tell what kind of timeline Alex had accidentally entered. Well, these next few chapters will all be closely connected. How will Alex solve this conundrum? Will they ever revive Chara? And will this story get darker? Who knows? Just stay tuned and keep reading._**

 ** _Finally, here's a final thing. I have quite a bit of the story planned out, but I am open to suggestions. If there's a battle you wish to see, an AU you want them to explore, or even a funny little adventure, let me know in a review or PM. I'll consider adding it and I'll credit you for the suggestion. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to the next one!_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	6. Sans a Skeleton

Alex rubbed his head lightly as consciousness returned to him. He had no idea where he was. He felt something soft beneath him, and the air of the room he was in was slightly chilly, but not terribly uncomfortable. He grunted has he put both hands beneath him to pick himself up as he felt the grass between his fingers beneath him.

His eyes quickly adjusted to his surroundings, although it took a moment to get used to the darker atmosphere. He was certainly Underground now, but this patch of grass didn't give away his position. He could be where he originally fell, near the exit to the Ruins, or even near the barrier. Alex looked around the room to survey his surroundings. The lone grass patch, the doorway nearby, and the lack of a hallway all led to one conclusion; option number two may be the correct one.

Now sitting down rather than lying there, he wiped the dirt off his dark blue jeans and classic red and white sweater, making sure he didn't miss anything or anyone hiding in the shadows around him. He looked similar to how he appeared when he originally fell Underground all those months ago, except now with a backpack over his shoulders and a cool bracelet on his left wrist.

Alex tried to think for a moment. How long had he been out? And was that horrible headache supposed to occur when he stepped through the portal? So many questions. He slowly stood up and looked around once more to confirm he was alone, after all, he had no idea what kind of universe he just landed in. A part of him wanted to go back into the Ruins and see mom, since she likely still resided there, but he knew he had a mission to do. And, in all likelihood, hadn't met him yet. He shrugged as he walked forward towards the exit.

As he approached the massive door with the Delta rune adorning it, Alex noticed something peculiar. The door was still partially open, letting in the cool breeze from Snowdin. The cold breeze clashed with the warmer air in the Ruins, creating small amounts of fog and vapor. That was pretty odd though, why would the door be open when Toriel normally keeps it shut? It's almost as if someone had used it and neglected to close the door behind them.

 _Hmm, is this normal though? I wasn't here when Frisk first fell, so it could be?_ Alex thought to himself while examining the door.

 ***You get the feeling that something is amiss.**

Alex panicked for a moment, falling back onto his butt, this time without the soft cushion of grass to catch him. This caused a quick yelp of pain to escape Alex's mouth. "Ow!" Alex blinked and looked around. Had he spoken aloud? Had he just imagined that? As far as he knew, that was more than just a passing thought in his head. Only one way to find out either way:

 _Am I crazy?_

 ***Having to ask that question to yourself does not help in your case that you're not**

Alex rolled his eyes briefly before realizing there wasn't anyone to see it. Well, he did ask a pretty dumb question. If the voice had replied no, it wouldn't have even guaranteed his sanity, since even the insane fail to see their own loss of sanity. Alex felt odd, but put the feeling aside as he rose back to his feet.

Finally, Alex shook his head and walked through the door frame and out into the cold air of Snowdin Forest. It was odd though, he didn't feel the presence of any monsters around him. Last time he was passing through, he had seen monsters like Snowdrake and Ice Cap, but there was no sign of any monsters. Again, he felt it odd, but he also had to remember that this was both a different timeline and before he fell down, thus making any previous experiences fairly inaccurate at the least.

He walked down the path before him, passing by the conveniently shaped lamp which was fallen over on its side as if discarded. Alex let out a small laugh. He remembered Sans talking about it and how he got Frisk to hide behind it despite it not hiding them at all. Yet Papyrus was oblivious the entire time and ACTUALLY mistook Frisk for another part of the lamp. _'Ahh, good times.'_

Alex made the entire journey through the forest and into town in just under an hour. He stopped at every single Sentry Station, looking for the dogs without success. He wished this was more like his world, he yearned for petting another dog. All he found instead was piles of a dust-like substance. It was definitely not snow, but Alex couldn't figure it out. Instead, the wind just blew around a fine, dust/powder-like snow around. It felt very wrong in a way, but Alex knew not why.

Alex was looking forward to getting into town. Hopefully someone could explain what was going on there. Maybe the barrier broke somehow and they all left? That certainly seemed possible, and would explain the absence of monsters and the door being left open. However, something about that explanation felt wrong. In fact, the atmosphere of this universe felt similar to the occasional nightmares he's had, only here it was real.

Alex shrugged and walked through the entrance. He could see the lights inside the Shop and Inn nearby by, he could see the lit Christmas tree in the distance in the center of town. He could even make out some light coming from Grillby's. Now with the presence of artificial light, Alex knew with certainty that the barrier was NOT broken yet. Otherwise the monsters wouldn't have their lights on.

He peeked inside the Shop to find a jaw-dropping scene. There was no one inside and the place was ransacked. The register was jammed open and all of the Gold was missing from it while many of the items on the shelves were missing as well, anything not missing was instead scattered across the floor of the shop haphazardly. It was horrible, but then Alex noticed a note on the counter. Alex read it aloud, "Please don't hurt my family." It sent shivers down his spine.

Alex's heart ached. What happened here?! Alex quickly pocketed the note and ran outside into the snow. He dashed from there to the Inn to find it vacant too. No rabbits, no snoring, no… anything. He ran by Grillby's to see no one inside at all either, no sign of the flaming elemental monster or his patrons. Now Alex was beginning to panic. Something horrible must have happened here.

He ran north and found it empty as well, devoid of any monster presence with only dust and snow remaining in their stead. He ran around the Christmas tree and found it abandoned as well, all of the presents underneath were stomped on and crushed in what appeared to be some sort of anger or fury. The Librarby was vacant as well, several books were lying on the ground and torn off the shelves. Frisk must be in serious trouble if something like this happened. Could it have been Flowey?

Alex didn't wait for the voice to answer as he ran out of the Librarby and sprinted as fast as he could to the Skeleton Brothers' doorstep. He desperately hoped that they were still here. That everyone was simply hiding. He quickly knocked on the door several times, as hard as he could. Alex would have knocked twice, setting up a knock-knock joke, but the panic had set in upon his soul, making him rush. There was no answer. Alex began pounding on the door in fear as tears began to form in his eyes yet refusing to fall. No, Sans, Papyrus, where are you? Was everyone missing?

"P-please open up. Anyone? Is anyone in there? Please!?" He cried out loudly as he continued to wait outside in the cold. Finally, he heard shuffling from inside as relief washed over him. "Sans? Pa-Papyrus?" He quickly asked as he hear the sounds of locks unlocking. The sounds of the locks were slow, as if the homeowner was in slow motion. Perhaps it was a result of what happened here?

The door opened to show Sans in mostly his usual clothing, this time wearing Papyrus' scarf around his neck too. His eye sockets were filled with false happiness, trying to mask some sort of sadness. That is, until he saw that before him was a human. His eternal smile turned menacing as he extended his hand instantly and forced Alex's soul into a dark blue color.

Alex was sent flying through the air, impacting a tree hard as he heard several cracks. He was unable to tell if the sounds came from himself or the tree, but he didn't have time to worry as Sans approached him with blue flames dancing within his eye socket, making him look terrifying. Alex tried to shrink back in fear, to no success.

"S-Sans? W-what are y-you doing?!" Alex asked in both fear and confusion. As soon as he finished speaking, he felt the pressure increase as he was pushed harder against the tree. The wood pressing through the sweater and causing pain to blossom across his back. He felt the loss of his first HP.

Alex looked at Sans directly in his eye sockets and begged him, "S-sans… please… stop…"

Sans hesitated for a moment before releasing his grip on Alex, sending him crashing to the ground hard. Alex tried to catch his breath as Sans took a few steps forward toward him, on all fours and breathing heavily into the snow beneath him. Alex was looking at the ground, trying to catch his breath and recover. He suddenly heard Sans speak, but it was without his regular joy or happiness. There was no attempt to hide his feelings, he was deadly serious and menacing.

 _"human. how do you know my name?"_

Something was wrong with Sans. Still looking at the ground, Alex thought for a moment before speaking, "Tib-tibia honest, I f-find it quite humerus that you don't re-remember me..."

Alex looked up slowly to see Sans not making any sort of response to his pun. He didn't laugh. He didn't chuckle. He simply stood there, maintaining his serious face. He finally responded, _"kid. you have one final chance to answer me. or…_ _ **you're going to have a bad time."**_

Alex's eyes widened with fear. Sans was serious. "I-… what happened to you?"

 _"buddy, that doesn't answer my question. now, why don't w-"_

"Gaster!" Alex quickly shouted, hoping it would surprise Sans enough to buy himself a bit more time.

Just as he hoped, Sans froze in place, his menacing smile nearly fading as his pupils in his eyes disappeared completely. _"how… how do you know that name?"_

Alex felt his heart rate rise in fear of Sans and his power. He was not joking, which was odd in of itself. "W-well, isn't h-he your f-f-father?"

Sans let out a low growl, _"that does not answer my question. and buddy, i'm telling you that my patience is gone."_

"H-he s-sent me…" Alex tried to look behind Sans and into the house, looking for his brother. "W-what would y-your brother th-think about t-this?"

Alex immediately regretted asking that. They were suddenly lifted off of the ground and suspended in the air by Sans' magic. Sans spoke again, yelling and nearly growling at Alex loudly, **_"Don't talk that way about my brother as if you know him! You… you don't know anything!"_**

Alex let tears roll down his eyes, "W-where's Papyrus?"

Sans' flaming eye threatened to burst as Sans barely held back his anger, _"buddy, you better think before you speak again. you're going to tell me everything you know, or i'll end your worthless human life!"_

Sans dropped Alex into the snow hard, nearly shaving off another HP. As he tried to stand back up, Sans stood there watching the human closely. Alex knew that this version of Sans was prepared to kill him, with little to no hesitation in his eyes. He hadn't seen Sans like this since Gaster took control of him. Alex began to speak, "I… I came to save my friend."

 _"your friend? you mean the psychopath in a blue and purple sweater?"_

Alex perked up a bit, allowing a small smile to form on his face, "Y-you've seen her? Where is she? Is she ok? Is she in trouble?"

Sans' expression remained hard as he asked his next question, _"oh 'she' is just fine. i haven't seen anyone hurt her in the slightest."_ There was a certain amount of anger and bitterness in his voice.

Alex was afraid of how to respond based on the way he said it, "W-well that's g-good… b-but is s-she in t-trouble?"

 _"she is."_ Sans slowly nodded, maintaining constant eye contact on Alex. He felt like something was off with him, as if he didn't know what kind of 'friend' this other human was…

"S-so…" Alex continued, "M-mind if you tell me w-what happened here? Where a-are all of the monsters?"

 _"that kid, that's what happened."_

"What do y-you mean?"

Sans was losing his patience right now. Guess he was going to half to spell it out to this human. _"she killed them! all of them, dust!"_

Alex's eyes widened in fear, "W-what?! No no no no no no no no no, no! That's not her, she wouldn't hurt anyone…. You… you're wrong."

Sans narrowed his eye sockets and spoke a bit quieter now, although he maintained his more menacing tone, _"wrong? you think i'm 'mistaken'?"_ Sans used both hands to form air quotes as he said the word 'mistaken'.

Alex began to feel some of his fear converting to anger. Without thinking, he responded fearlessly to Sans' accusations, "Yes! She's the most kind, gentle soul in the whole world. She would die over and over again just to make sure the people she cares about don't have to suffer! She is perfect and smart and… and she's the nicest person ever, so don't you DARE talk about her like that!" Both of Alex's hands were balled up in fists, shaking by his sides in anger.

Now Sans was mad as he began to yell back. His eye erupted into flames once more as Alex felt a heavy weight on his soul as it turned blue. _"really?! 'nicest', 'kind', 'gentle'? would someone like that cut down every monster they could get their hands on?! would someone 'gentle' kill someone who only saw the best in them, someone who refused to fight back?! someone…"_ Glowing blue tears began to form and flow from Sans' eye sockets. He began to sob and fall to his knees as he continued his final sentence, _"... who died still believing they could do better. Still believing they WOULD do better…"_

Sans was broken, kneeling before Alex with his head hung toward the ground as blue tears fell onto his orange scarf and then onto the snow below him. Alex felt all of his anger rush out as he took a step toward Sans in an attempt to comfort him. Wrong choice. Alex felt themselves flying through the air and back into the tree behind him. The impact reduced their HP by an additional 2. It really hurt.

"Ahhhh!" Alex exclaimed as he looked straight up toward the ceiling of the cavern. Upon looking back down, Alex saw Sans had returned to his feet and the tears had stopped, replaced with sheer rage.

 _"she... she's a dirty brother killer. she murdered everyone, even as they begged for mercy or refused to fight back… and you have the audacity to tell me how perfect she is and how she didn't do this?!"_ Alex could almost feel his piercing gaze burn him. He was speechless as he hung against the tree once more.

"I…" Alex hung their head for a moment as tears began to form in their eyes. Sans spoke again, this time with even more anger tainting his voice, _"now, i believe i asked you some questions, which you have yet to answer. this is your final chance."_

Alex looked up at Sans with tears now falling down his cheeks, "I… I'm sorry Sans… I'm so sorry about Papyrus… I was…" Alex thought for a moment before resuming, "I'm f-from another t-timeline… that's h-how I know you… and Doctor G-Gaster."

Sans' expression softened ever so slightly as his eyes widened in realization. This kid was from an alternate timeline. That would explain his knowledge and why he thinks that little maniac is nice. It must have been very different in this alternate timeline. Still, some things felt very odd to him. Sans released his prisoner from his magical hold, allowing him to return to all fours in the snow.

After a moment to re-catch their breath, the human before Sans climbed back onto their feet and looked at Sans with a sadness in their eyes. He spoke, "S-so, Papyrus… he's r-r-really g-gone…" Both of Sans' eye sockets darkened as he solemnly nodded, confirming his suspicions. Then, the kid did something that caught him off guard. He ran up and hugged Sans.

After a moment of hesitation, Sans quickly pushed Alex back for a moment and looked into his eyes. _"why don't you come inside and try to explain as much as you can, and then maybe I will do the same for you… but..."_ Sans' expression hardened for a moment, _"if you try anything, you'll be dead where you stand... without hesitation. understand?"_ Alex wiped away his tears as he quickly nodded, following Sans inside.

 _I guess… this isn't going to be as easy or simple as I thought…_ Alex thought as he entered the Skeleton's house, trying his best to pull himself back together.

 ***Oh, so it's one of** ** _those_** **timelines…**

* * *

Sans listened attentively as Alex explained as much as he could. He told Sans about Sans' Gaster asking for help in this timeline. He mentioned his own acceptance and agreeing to come over and help Frisk. Alex went on and on about Frsk, describing her as this perfect angel, which contradicted everything Sans knew about the kid. Although, Alex did leave out a few things that he didn't feel were relevant. He left about anything about Chara or specifics about his own timeline. He's seen enough sci-fi anime with Alphys and Undyne to know how bad that could turn out.

Sans didn't interrupt at all for the entire explanation. It all made sense, and it sounded like both timelines were similar, so… what happened to make this one different. Did another human fall down here instead of this 'Frisk'? He was unsure. _"so, i think i understand. your human though… they could…_ _ **reset**_ _?"_

Alex did not like the way Sans said that last word, but he understood why. After all, his Sans was the exact same way when it came to resets and altering time and space on a whim. Frisk also understood his concerns and agreed to never Reset unless Sans told him too, which did bring a smile to his face.

"...yeah, but she promised to never do it again! Why do you ask?"

Sans shrugged but remained completely serious, and seemed to ignore Alex's question, _"and you know 'frisk'? you think you can convince her to stop?"_

Alex slowly nodded as Sans asked another question, _"do you think, if we stopped the human… that you could convince or force them to reset?"_

Now Alex was shocked, forcing a gasp out of his mouth involuntarily, "Y-you want a r-reset?"

Sans slowly nodded, not changing his expression once, "Frisk never reset in our world, but they did load a save that was several months old. You… you weren't exactly happy about it but you understood… but still…"

Sans held up a boney hand to interrupt Alex mid thought, speaking in an angrier tone now, trying not to allow his eye to glow once more, _"listen pal, i doubt your version of me watched their brother being murdered by a dirty human. i doubt they had to watch everyone around them crumble to dust."_

Alex stood up from their seat and looked at Sans, "Sans… I'm sorry… but, I might be able to…"

Sans took in a deep breath, his pupils in his eye sockets looking down in sadness for a moment before returning to locking onto Alex's eyes, " _good. i think we got off on the wrong foot."_ Sans extended his hand to Alex, offering a handshake, _"you already know my name. sans… sans a skeleton…"_

 ***Strange, he usually says THE skeleton...**

Alex smiled gently, accepting his hand and shaking it, "...and I'm Alex…" Alex looked at the handshake with a frown on their face. _No whoopie cushion? This world… what happened…_

Alex brightened up and bit and forced a smile onto their face, which Sans easily saw through. As if reading his mind, Sans spoke, _"sorry pal, my last handshake wasn't received well…"_

"You… how did…"

Sans shrugged, _"i'm good at reading people and their expressions. now, why don't we come up with a plan of attack."_

"Well, I'd rather not fight her." Alex got a determined look in his eyes, "If I can just get to her and have a moment to talk, I'm sure I can straighten everything out!"

Sans sighed and shook his head slowly, _"look pal, this human is not like yours. if you tried to talk peacefully, it'd end with a knife in your back..."_

Alex straightened his posture and looked Sans in his eyes (or sockets), "You're wrong Sans." Alex started, shaking his head, "I know I can talk her down. Trust me."

Sans shrugged, _"alright pal, your funeral. if you think you can talk her down, be my guest. but…"_

Alex sighed, "Why must there always be a 'but' when it comes to these things?"

Sans shrugged, _"well our biggest problem is t-"_

 ***Dramatic pausing is not good, Sans**

* * *

Sans extended his hand to Alex, offering a handshake, _"you already know my name. sans… sans a skeleton…"_ Alex was smiling gently, accepting his hand and shaking it, "..." Alex looked down at the handshake, this time with a much bigger frown as their eyebrows knit together in confusion.

 ***You have a feeling this has happened before...**

He looked up with a slight amount of panic in his eyes and focused on Sans, who looked deep into Alex's eyes. His eyes went dark, hiding any sign of having pupils.

 _"that expression... that's the expression of someone who's already had this conversation…"_

Alex looked at Sans with even more fear now, seeing how serious he was. He didn't think that he'd done anything, right? Alex shakily tried to speak, "S-so, y-you were s-saying something a-about there being a p-p-problem with confronting Fr-Frisk?"

Sans narrowed his eyes as his pupils returned slightly, still fairly dark, _"pal, i believe you just saw the biggest problem. we only have one try, if that, and then we become 'predictable'. that's the biggest problem."_

"What do you mean by, 'if that'?"

 _"buddy, don't you know how these work? if she panics, she could just reverse time to before the encounter, undoing all progress you were starting to make..."_

Alex gulped loudly in fear. Only one try, maybe not even? This was not going to be easy. If he couldn't convince Frisk on try number one, they'd just load and kill them… and there was no counter to her ability to influence time other than more Determination, which Alex didn't exactly have, being a soul of Purity. Alex needed to work with Sans to come up with a plan if they were going to even have a shot. They turned to each other and began to discuss possible ideas for about a minute or so…

...then the world reversed itself back to the handshake.

 ***Well this isn't gonna be annoying at all.**

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _If you like snary voices in your head or annoying time loops, let me know with a friendly PM or review._**

 ** _Now that part one of the small genocide arc is now complete, I'm going to get the rest ready for you. As a nice surprise, I will be submitting an additional chapter tomorrow and the day after, completing the arc. Hope you enjoyed it! Reviews and PMs welcome and thanks for spending some time reading my story.  
_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	7. How to Stop a Genocide

The world was stuck in that time loop for what seemed like hours. Luckily, the time loop itself seemed to be extending over time, giving the two partners more and more time to plan before the world reverted to a handshake. After several hours of repeated loads from Frisk, somewhere in waterfall, they finally ended as Sans and Alex came up with a plan.

Their plan involved getting a few things and trying to get Asgore's, Alphys' and Undyne's help; maybe even Mettaton too. The plan involved having a final confrontation with Frisk with all of them opposing her. With so many powerful monsters meeting her at once, it would reduce the LV she could accumulate and make it near impossible for her too kill them all while Alex tried to convince her to stop, although Sans had little faith in this part of the plan. Regardless, Alex still knew deep down that he could convice Frisk to stop, and may be the only one who can.

It was odd, now that the world seemed to finally stay on a singular path after being trapped in that loop for so long. However, it was scary, trying to figure out what caused the time loop to end. Unfortunately for Sans and Alex, that question remained unanswered for a very short period of time. They were suddenly and unexpectedly interrupted by a buzz in Sans' pocket, likely from receiving a phone call.

 ***Ring ring**

 _"sans speaking"_ The skeleton answered, hoping in vain that he wasn't about to receive some bad news.

"S-sans! I-it's…" Sobbing could be heard from the other side of the phone. Alex could tell it was Alphys speaking, but she sounded broken up, "it's Undyne… s-sh-she's d-dead!" Her sobbing continued as Alex fell to his knees, tears forming in his own eyes as well from the news. First Papyrus, now Undyne… this world is nothing like his own. Alex let the tears fall down his cheeks, much like how Alphys was probably feeling.

 ***Well, there goes THAT plan.**

Sans' pupils left his eye sockets filled with darkness as he comprehended what he was just told. Realizing how broken up Alphys was, Sans calmed his voice and took on a softer tone as he responded, _"alphys, hold on. i'll be right there!"_ Sans promptly hung up the phone and looked to Alex, _"alright, we need to go see alphys. take my hand."_ He said, extending his hand toward Alex, who nodded immediately and took it.

A moment later, the world vanished around the pair as they flew through the fabric of reality. The light of Sans' house was replaced with near perfect darkness as they flew toward the destination. As quickly as the world faded, it returned as they returned back inside of the timeline.

* * *

The first thing Alex felt was the rush of hot air on their skin, quickly threatening to overheat him. After closing their eyes and steadying themselves after that shortcut. No matter how many times Sans did it before, he'd never get used to the sensation. It used to make Sans laugh, seeing Alex's stomach turned inside out as he made some sort of pun about skeletons and guts.

 ***You alright there?**

Alex nodded quickly, trying not to directly acknowledge the voice, mostly for the sake of not explaining it to Sans. Alex opened his eyes to see he and Sans were standing directly beside the Lab, right in one of the blind spots of the cameras. Alex looked over to Sans, still expecting the pun and laughter for a split second before remembering where he was, creating a frown on his face. Sans barely looked concerned as he turned and already began to walk toward the entrance.

Alex quickly followed after him, running to his side right as he reached the door to the lab. Sans knocked twice and they both waited a moment before eventually walking inside. The lab… it was not in good shape to say the least. Alex was used to Alphys' working space not being exactly clean, but this… this was much worse than he'd ever seen it before. Everything about this timeline was breaking his heart.

The trashcan was overturned with trash from both it and other sources scattered across the floor. An uneaten bowl of ramen was sitting beside the large monitor in the center of the lab. The camera of choice that was being monitored on screen was aimed at a spot in waterfall that Alex remembered vividly. He remembered battling against a Gaster-controlled Mettaton right in that spot, dancing side-by-side with her as they dodged his energy beams. He remembered the sick moves with green magic and shields with her. It was a blast… if not for the life-or-death situation it really was.

Alex frowned at the memory. Now… it could never happen again here. Mettaton was likely out somewhere watching Frisk and Undyne… Alex closed their eyes as tears threatened to pour forth again just thinking about her. The monitor showed something else at the arena, it showed a pile of dust next to a discarded helmet. Alex knew, without a doubt, that Undyne was truly gone here. That's when Alex felt a boney hand on his shoulder.

Alex turned around to look at Sans, his face had a mixture of worry and anger, but not towards him. _"kid, we need to find alphys… she must have been helping with the evacuation since she's not here."_ Alex nodded as they continued their search of the lab.

The rest of it was in disarray too, but they noticed another worrying feature. There was a set of dusty foot prints in the lab that led from one doorway to the next. Likely, Frisk had already come and gone from the lab. They both knew that time was running out, that the human was, more likely than not, out killing more monsters. After looking back in Alphys' room for her, there was only one last place to look, in the True Lab. Alex was unsure how much Sans knew about the lab, but figured he at least knew about it.

Together, they walked to the elevator and descended down into the basement level of the lab, the True Lab.

 ***This is True-ly a Lab**

Although from a voice in their head, Alex couldn't help but barely hold back a laugh. It's been awhile since he's heard a pun, so it was definitely welcomed. Alex smiled a bit despite the atmosphere as the elevator made its characteristic 'ding' as the doors opened to the lab.

Stepping out of the elevator, Alex immediately noticed a few voices in the distance, probably in another room. Turning to their right, Alex looked at the vending machine, noticing that the door to it was ajar and all of its contents were missing. Unlike the shop in Snowdin, this wasn't broken into and ransacked. Alex turned back to Sans, who was right behind him.

"So, w-where do you th-think she is?"

Sans shrugged for a moment while looking around, _"probably where all the voices are coming from. come on, let's go."_

Sans already started walking, taking the door to the right of the elevator and continuing without Alex. A bit surprised by Sans' motivation as opposed to normal, he stood there a moment before chasing after him down the hall. After a moment, they ended up in a familiar room with nine beds. Unlike before, there were dozens of monsters sitting on the beds or on the ground around them.

Alex didn't recognize many of them, but knew they must all be refugees from the evacuation Sans mentioned. There were a few faces he recognized though. He saw Grillby tending to a few wounds while he also noticed the bunny monster that owned the shop in Snowdin sitting beside another bunny monster on the floor, likely a sister or other relative. The whole room brought more aches to Alex's heart. _'I really hope we can fix this… no one deserves this...'_ Alex thought to himself, and hopefully the voice too.

 ***I got a feeling you will. Just stay PURE, got it?**

Alex nodded slowly, allowing a small smile to form on his lips. _'Hehe, thanks voice. I really hope I'm not crazy…'_ Alex quickly thought before returning his attention toward Sans, who was on the other side of the room talking to the young monster scientist, Doctor Alphys. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but suddenly Sans extended both of his arms as Alphys rushed in for an embrace, holding Sans tightly as she cried into his coat.

Though he hesitated, he walked over slowly towards the pair of monster, earning stares and a few gasps of fear as he walked by the monsters. They all seemed fearful of his presence, as if he would try to finish what the other human started. They were all afraid, which didn't make Alex feel any better. He shook his head slowly as he quickened his pace a bit, arriving behind Sans after just a moment, finally able to hear them both.

Alphys was still sobbing as Sans slowly rubbed her back in comfort. Though sobbing, she still tried to talk to him, "I… I c-can't be-believe it… sh-sh-she's g-gone!" Sans continued to comfort her, yet Alex could see the hurt in Sans' eyes too. After all, he lost someone he was really close to too. "I- I'm s-sorry about P-Pa-Papyrus Sans…" She continued as she sobbed.

 _"i know alphys, i miss 'em too…"_ Sans turned his head to see Alex standing there again. Sans cleared his throat, which confused Alex to no end, and turned back to Alphys for a moment, _"hey, we should go somewhere a bit more... private, ok? my…"_ Sans looked at Alex again for a moment before continuing, _"partner and i have some things to talk about."_

Alphys nodded as she followed behind Sans out of the room, not noticing the human following them. After a moment, they arrived at a familiar chamber, the one with the DT Extraction device. Once they all arrived he nodded towards Alex, which Alphys quickly noticed and turned around. The moment she turned around and saw the friendly, smiling human standing there, she did the only logical thing...

Alphys jumps backwards and let out a scream as she fell onto the ground away from the human and towards Sans. Once she hit the ground, she gave no signs of pain as she rapidly tried to crawl away from the human until she hit Sans' legs and was unable to go any further.

 ***Well, who didn't see THAT coming.**

 _"whoa, whoa, easy there alphys."_ Sans started, trying to calm down the yellow lizard-monster in a lab coat. She began to quickly inhale and exhale, indefinitely hyperventilating. Sans picked her back up, griped both of her shoulder, and began to quickly shake her, _"calm down alphys, he's not going to hurt you!"_ Finally, her breathing began to slow ever-so-slightly as she turned back toward the human to see if she was being told the truth.

Alex maintained his awkward smile as he spoke, "Y-yeah Doctor Alphys, I'm not here to hurt anyone." Though still unsure, Alphys' breathing slowed some more, returning to a more normal breathing pattern. Sans slowly put a reassuring hand on her shoulder to comfort her a bit more. She finally spoke again, "S-sorry…" Alex smiled reassuringly.

"S-so, you wa-wanted to t-t-talk with m-me?" She asked, looking back and forth between the skeleton and human while speaking, continuing to keep her body facing the human in case of an attack. After everything she's seen on the cameras, she wasn't going to take any chances with the human.

Sans nodded, _"it's about the other human. the one that's…"_ Sans motioned to their surroundings, _"responsible for all this…"_ Alphys slowly nodded as he said it, definitely relieved at least a little bit that this human was not the same as the other. She hasn't seen many humans before, so it was something new to be sure.

 _"i have an idea… but we need your help."_ Sans continued, looking at Alex. Alex was surprised though. Last he checked, their 'plan' dissolved into ashes the moment they heard about Undyne's death. Since when did they still have some sort of 'plan'?

"M-my help? B-but I al-always screw th-these th-things up. How c-could I h-h-help?" She asked, stuttering much worse than Alex had ever heard her before, even when she was blushing and embarrassed. It seems like Undyne was one of the few things keeping her going, much like how Papyrus was for Sans.

 _"alphys, don't be so hard on yourself. and we need you help. will you please help us? for undyne and paps…"_ Alphys could see the hurt in Sans' eyes, which very closely matched the hurt that was in her own. She nodded, "I- I will t-try!" She finally said, a bit more confident in herself. Sans nodded toward Alex and motioned him to come over, which he promptly did, standing beside the skeleton.

 ***What's the 'brilliant' plan now?**

Alex squinted his eyes a bit but didn't comment on the snarky voice's comment. He looked over to Sans as he began to explain, _"first of all, alphys, do you still have any vials of determination?"_ Alphys' eyes widened as she quickly shot a glance toward the DT Extraction machine next to them.

"U-uh, y-y-yeah…" Her eyes widened with fear for a moment before she quickly spoke again, "b-but Sans, y-you can't u-use it! O-our b-b-bodies can't h-handle De-Determination like h-humans!" She stuttered out, trying to warn the skeleton against using Determination. Sans shook his head and smiled a bit, _"yeah, i know, but luckily for us we HAVE a human."_ Both monsters turned to stare at Alex, who could only respond with an "uhhh…"

Sans smiled weakly as Alphys looked at them both in confusion for a moment before something clicked in her head as her eyes widened. She gasped, "Y-you're going to u-use it to c-counter the other h-human's Determination!" Sans smiled a bit wider and nodded, _"yup."_

Alex widened his eyes as he realized what they were planning.

 ***Wow… I didn't expect an actually smart plan there.** ** _Clapping_** **.**

Alex, temporarily distracted by the insanity that must be brewing in his skull, finally spoke up, "B-but I've used Determination in the past. It only lasts for a short period of time, so it would only counter there's for a little while."

Sans nodded, _"yes, but that's not the point. if they lose their power for even a second, it'll cause panic. and then the human may not notice if their power returns due to said panic. we just need to time it."_

Suddenly, Sans was interrupted by a buzz in Alphys' coat pocket. She pulled out her phone to see a single notification before she dropped it. Tears began to form in her eyes as she collapsed to her knees once more. Alex looked down to see the phone with a now cracked screen. However, even with the crack, Alex could clearly read what the message said. It appeared to be an automated message that read:

 ** _METTATON IS NO LONGER FUNCTIONAL. STATUS: INACTIVE_**

Alex realized what this meant. Mettaton was just killed… by Frisk. Alex jumped over to Alphys and wrapped her in a hug immediately, causing her to initially flinch before allowing Alex to hug her as she hugged him back. Sans stood in his place before speaking in a much lower tone. _"this... this means she's approaching the king's castle… i have to go…"_ He put a hand on Alphys' shoulder, getting her attention as she looks up at him with tears. _"alphys, help the kid out and send them up as soon as possible."_ Before Alphys could formulate a response, the skeleton vanished into thin air.

After another moment, Alphys broke off the hug and looked at Alex, "I-I'll go gr-grab the D-determination." She said quickly before running over to the machine next to them. She worked quickly, pressing several buttons and flipping a few levers before she finally pressed the final one required. Then, a single vial of a red substance popped out of the machine, which she promptly grabbed and brought over to Alex.

"H-here." She quickly said, extending her arms towards Alex. Alex slowly reached out and grabbed the vial and syringe from her, quickly pocketing both. He smiled toward Alphys and thanked her.

"Thanks Alphys. I… I'm going to make things right!" He said confidently.

She smiled weakly, "I-I hope s-so." She turned and looked around the room quickly before re-facing the human. "Y-you better g-go now. H-hurry!" Alex nodded and decided to run back out into the room full of refugees. They all, once again, looked at the human with worry before he took off back to the elevator he had come in from. Once there, he quickly pressed the button that would lead toward the castle.

The ride in the elevator was unbearable. It was far to slow to Alex's liking, making him pace back and forth as it rose higher and higher. He hoped he wouldn't be too late, but wasn't too worried since the time loop hasn't returned. He knew Sans was strong enough to handle Frisk, but if they could Reset indefinitely, then it would only be a matter of time before Sans falls to her too. And DAMN, this elevator was going slow!

 ***Ugh, this is too slow… want me to teleport you there?**

Alex's eyes widened. "Y-you can d-do that?!" Alex quickly shook their head, "N-nevermind. C-can you teleport me to Asriel's and Chara's old room in the castle? I want to check something out over there!"

 ***Gotcha bud. Hold on tight~.**

Alex balled up his fists and closed his eyes shut tightly as he felt reality begin to flow around him. He most certainly was being brought through time and space to his preferred destination by the voice in his head. Dang, that sounds really weird when said aloud.

* * *

Suddenly, Alex opened his eyes to the familiar monochrome room in the King's castle. Both gift boxes on the floor were already opened and their contents were missing. This definitely meant that they were about to reach the King. Right as Alex was about to take a step forward and thank the voice in his head the world twisted and contorted around him.

* * *

Suddenly, Alex opened his eyes to the familiar monochrome room in the King's castle. Alex did a double-take. ' _Uh oh'_ they thought, _'looks like the time loop has begun.'_ It was weird though, the time loop was extremely short. As if right after it was created, Frisk was forced to rewind the timeline. Then Alex remembered fighting Sans, himself. If you were unprepared, Sans would likely be able to kill you pretty quickly…

 ***Where to this time?**

Alex was snapped back into reality by the voice. He shook his head, "F-first, I need to make sure that someth-" Alex was interrupted by reality warping around them once more.

* * *

Suddenly, Alex opened his eyes to the extremely familiar monochrome room in the King's castle. Alex was not happy. Another quick reload…

Alex tried to continue his previous thought, "I need to make sure that something Chara told me about was true. If it is, it might help me. After all, Chara is likely in Frisk's head too, watching everything. She's probably so scared about what's happening to Frisk, so if I can get her attention, she could help us save her!" Alex said with a hopeful smile as he bent down to look under Chara's old bed after the voice teleported them again.

 ***What are you looking for?**

After focusing on looking under the bed for a moment before exclaiming "Ah ha!". Alex reached out and pulled hard on a small box that was tapped onto the bottom of the bed, which blended into the wood. After a moment, they pulled it out from under the bed to look at it. "This is what I was looking for!" He finally said as he worked to open the small box.

After a moment of fidgeting with it, Alex finally managed to open the box and pick up its contents. Now, in Alex's hands, was an old, simple pocket knife. The hilt was a faded black with a white engraving on the side of it, reading 'Phillip'. The blade itself, however, was still in pretty good condition, alhough a bit on the small side.

 ***What's this from?**

Alex smiled gently at the knife in his hands, "This… this was the knife Chara told me about. Her best and only friend from the surface gave it to her before he was… killed. She said she treasured it, but eventually hide it so no one would take it from her. She eventually forgot it back at the castle in our world…" Alex took in a deep breath, "Hehe, guess this timeline is VERY similar to mine…" As Alex sat there for a moment longer, looking down at the knife, he felt the horribly familiar feeling of the world warping around him.

* * *

Suddenly, and unfortunately, he was now standing in the all-too-familiar monochromatic bedroom in the King's Castle. Alex sighed before diving under the bed quickly to retrieve the knife from its hiding spot once more.

 ***How about we get there quickly?**

Alex nodded, "Yeah, to the entrance to Judgement Hall, please…" They said solemnly, hoping desperately that Frisk wasn't too far gone. He was going to do everything in his power to save her! He closed his eyes and tried to prepare himself the best he could for the teleportation.

 ***You got it.**

Suddenly, the world gave way beneath Alex as he immediately appeared right next to the doorway to Judgement Hall. _'Thanks!'_ , he quickly thought before entering the doorway and into the hall.

Upon entering, Alex saw Sans dueling with another human. The human in question was certainly wearing Frisk's cloths and had her hair, it made his heart thump rapidly in excitement and fear for her as she dodged bone attack after bone attack. Luckily, she was doing a pretty good job at dodging. In fact… she was doing almost too good. Almost as if she was getting ready to defeat Sans. Must have been good timing, but Alex thought it was odd, seeing Frisk do so well against Sans when he had KARMA on his side.

Alex looked over to Sans and he made eye contact with him who, upon noticing him, sent bones up out of the ground to block the two doorways/ exits of the Hall before winking to both him and Frisk simultaneously. Then, while she seemed confused, he teleported away, ending their duel. Alex knew, deep down, that Sans was likely hiding somewhere nearby, preparing to watch this encounter from the shadows. He hoped Sans didn't see the Bone Sword now in his hands, or at least didn't think of the worst case scenario about it... Unfortunately, regardless, he had the feeling that he'd be on his own for this... aside from the voice in his head...

Alex took a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling slowly and deeply before taking a single step forward, echoing across the Hall. He was nervous, yet excited to she Frisk. After a moment of hesitation, he sent a silent message to the voice in his head, _'Wish me luck!'_

 ***Good luck**

Then, with the widest smile he could muster, Alex took another step forward towards Frisk, who was still quite far away, and did his best to remain calm. Finally, he yelled out a single word towards the human, his voice and tone filled with worry.

"FRISK!"

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _If you don't like cliffhangers, or you really like drama and sadness, let me know with a friendly PM or review. Found errors or typos? Let me know too. This is part two of the three-part arc with the Genocide Timeline. Hope you've enjoyed it thus far and you should know what comes next! Now… Onwards to more drama!_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	8. Vs The Fallen Child

"FRISK!" Alex called out, his voice echoing in the brightly lit hallway. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, flowers were blooming, and basically… it was a beautiful day outside. Frisk, at the other end of the hall, froze in place, unwilling to turn around and look at the source of the call.

Hesitantly, Alex slowly walked forward, step-by-step, toward his close friend. As he approached, he injected himself with the vial of determination. He felt it flow through his veins, filling him with Pure Determination. Alex knew, without having to look, that his soul was now a shiny, vibrant red color.

Finally, Alex now only stood a few feet away from Frisk, with her back still turned toward him. Closer now, Alex saw a sharp knife tightly gripped in her right hand, almost in a death grip. Her other fist was balled up tightly as well, but that's not what worried Alex the most.

All over Frisk's beautiful blue and purple sweater and her jeans was a fine white powder-like substance. Alex didn't need the voice in his head or anyone else to tell him what this was. He knew, deep down inside him, that the powder was monster dust, the kind that monsters dissolve into when they die. Seeing her like this, even without seeing her face, broke his heart and filled it with a dull pain.

Finally, after a moment of silence, Alex spoke again, a bit softer this time. "F-Frisk?!" This caused a visible shudder to run down her spine as she slowly turned back around to face him. Her dust covered brown hair bobbing as she turned around slowly. Alex could now see her face, which made his heart ache a bit more.

She was expressionless, turning around and showing him her face. Her eyes were not their vibrant brown, rather a dull reddish-brown. Her face showed signs of fatigue, but otherwise remained completely neutral. That is… until she made eye contact with Alex. Suddenly her eye's widened and her neutral mouth formed into an open frown as tears began to form in her eyes.

"A-Alex?!" She asked as tears finally spilled forth, flowing down her cheeks as she fell to her knees. Her grip loosened on the knife as it fell out of her hand and onto the floor beside her. Alex didn't care about any warnings, he rushed forward to comfort her, wrapping her in a tight embrace and falling to his knees too. She wrapped her arms around him in return as she sobbed into his sweater, but he didn't mind.

He held her closely and tightly as he comforted his hurting friend, rubbing her back slowly, "There, there Frisk. It's ok…" He felt one of her hands let go and hit to floor beside her, likely giving up on everything she's been doing. Alex let a weak smile out as he continued to comfort her as her sobs became more like hiccups. Actually, now that Alex thought about it, these 'hiccups' sounded a bit more like laughter, but he wasn't sure. Why would she be laughing?

 ***Watch out!**

On pure instinct, Alex dove to the side and looked back to see Frisk with the knife back in her possession. The tears continued to roll down her eyes, but something was wrong now. Instead of being a dull brownish-red, her eyes have now turned crimson, similar to when Chara was in control of Frisk. Still laughing, she spoke, "Hahaha, Alex? What's wrong?!"

 ***This is bad… quick, Alex, how much magic do you know?**

Alex's heart rate began to quicken as he rose to his feet, watching as Frisk did the same. He took a step back in shock as Frisk just shrugged, "Oh well, worth a shot. Might as well try again…" She closed her eyes tightly for a moment, standing completely still. A moment later, when she opened her eyes, she took a step back of her own with a sort of panic forming in her eyes, "Wh-what DID YOU DO!?" She yelled, voice booming across the hallway.

Alex dropped the empty vial of Determination. "It's over Frisk! You can't Reset, now…" Alex extended his arm slightly towards her, "...can we please just talk about this?!"

Frisk, now with her smile returning slowly, shook her head and raised the knife towards Alex, "Well then… hahaha, I guess I'll have to make this battle your last!" She charged forward as the world shifted around the pair. Alex recognized this feeling, it wasn't teleportation. No, it was the battle magic, forming an arena around them. This fight… Alex didn't feel very confident about this…

* * *

 ** _[Cue: Megalo Strikes Back]_**

Frisk stood before you, smiling wickedly, with knife in hand. She slowly swayed, as if in rhythm with the ominous music. Your red-tinted silver soul appeared in front of your chest, in plain view of Frisk.

 ***Alright, I know this is bad, but you can do this! I'm gonna help you out here. I don't think you know much magic, so I'm gonna 'lend' you mine, alright?**

You nodded as the familiar screen of options appeared before you. You knew it had been a while since your last battle, yet you still knew exactly what to do first. However, before you could, you noticed a fifth option, labeled 'SPELL'.

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [SPELL] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***CHECK PLEAD REMINISCE**

 ***Frisk LV 19 ATK 145 DEF 113**

 ***Don't get hit, alright?**

Your eyes widen in fear. 145? 113? That's the highest numbers you've seen. And that 19 LV? This was not going to be easy. Not one bit. Frisk watched your expression closely, laughing at your fear.

"Hahahahaha, what's wrong? Afraid of a small human? I thought you wanted to 'help me'?"

Your throat tightened, not knowing how to reply. That's when she began to attack. She leapt forward towards you in the blink of an eye, aiming for your chest. In that split second, you managed to bring your sword, The Clavicle, out in front of you to parry the first swipe. This action took her by surprise, as if she expected you to just stand there and take it.

Immediately, you leapt to the right, away from your attacker, trying to run around the side of her. Looking back, you could make out her eyes, glowing a much harsher red now. At least she wasn't using any magic against you yet. Unfortunately, while looking back at her, you slowed your pace as she took off after you, much quicker than you anticipated. She caught up in an instant, swiping away horizontally across your chest, only to have it parried once more away from you without taking any damage.

Her smile now became one of malice as she swung again, anticipated another parry, but this time you dove under the blade and rolled behind her. She froze in place for a second as the options screen began to appear in front of you once more, meaning that this turn was over. You didn't feel relieved, after just a single turn you were nearly out of breath. _'This… this sucks…'_

 ***Choose spell!**

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [SPELL] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***WEAPON TRAIT INFUSE COPY**

 ***You have been given a sword. You may summon more after swinging for decisive hits.**

You looked at the blade, and saw it was grey. It was a similar weight and shape to the Clavicle, but felt… stronger, for lack of a better word. Seemed the voice in your head was nice enough to give you something you were familiar with. You smiled with the blade in your hands, swapping out your bone sword for the newer blade. You were ready now!

Frisk tilted their head a little bit in wonder as she watched the blade appear out of thin air, but smiled anyway. "You think a new weapon will stop me? You're just as weak as every other human!" She dashed forward towards you, running with a glow in her eyes, preparing to destroy the human before her. Luckily, the blade in your hand was lighter than you originally thought it was.

You swung at the knife, parrying it perfectly and forcing her to take a step back, "Frisk, please… stop this!" She shook her head with a smile in response as she dove back toward you for another go, clashing both blades together, inches between both her and your own faces. Her smile was wicked and sickening, distorting her normally pretty face into something hideous.

"You mean NOTHING to me, you worthless human!" She shouted into you face as the blades remained in contact with each other. You knew something was making her say that, but it hurt nonetheless. With a bit of extra strength, you push her back, forcing her to stumble a few feet back as her turn comes to a close, signaled by the reappearance of the options. Your heart still ached from her previous comment.

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [SPELL] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK *PLEAD REMINISCE**

You reached an arm towards Frisk, begging her to stop, "Frisk, I care about you. Stop fighting me!" Her consistent smile only faltered for a second before she shook her head.

"You can't fool me, human. I know the truth, you can't care about anyone but yourself!"

"T-That's not true Frisk, and you kn-" Before you could finish your thought, Frisk dove at you again. You were unprepared for the sudden strike, but swung wildly towards the knife, attempting to parry it once more. Suddenly, a few other swords appeared out of thin air and forced her to slow down to avoid them. You almost smiled at this, except for everything that was happening made you not do so.

 ***The swords are keeping them busy. Frisk loses this next turn.**

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [SPELL] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **SPAGHETTI NICE-CREAM *TRAIT-SYNTH CLAVICLE KNIFE**

You reached under you Trait Synthesizer Bracelet and pushed in the dark blue bubble, forcing the blue liquid to absorb into your skin. In response, your soul began to glow a majestic royal blue color. You are filled with Pure Integrity! Frisk now tilted their head again, completely confused by what just occurred. That is, until you held your arm out toward them and her red soul turned blue.

You closed your fist and lifted it quickly, much like Gaster and Sans had taught, forcing gravity to reverse for Frisk and send her to the ceiling. She grunted aloud in pain when she hit it, causing a bit of heartache for you, but you ignored it as you decided to plead with her again before she could get back down. "Frisk! Listen to me! This isn't you!"

She growled at you in anger as she got back up, standing tall despite her feet resting on the ceiling above you. "You know NOTHING about ME!" She screamed back before jumping with as much force as she could muster, jumping toward you from the ceiling and swiping with her knife at you again. Quickly parrying it, she was forced back onto the ceiling for a moment before you felt a quick jolt of pain from your soul.

Looking forward, the royal blue in your soul was beginning to fade from the use of the trait, hastening the deterioration of its presence. Unable to hold the gravity change any longer, she landed right in front of you as you fell to your knees, exhausted.

She smiled as she approached you, gripping the blade in her hand as she walked towards you. She stopped only about an inch from you before bringing the blade up to your chest, pressing it just hard enough to draw the first drop of blood. You felt your HP drop by one. She continued to smile and look at you with some sort of twisted happiness on her face.

You realized the only reason you weren't dead was likely for her own sick, twisted enjoyment. You decided to try once more and plead. You looked into her red eyes as she smiled and spoke, "Goodbye, worthless human…"

As she took the blade back, preparing to swing, you decided to let all of your emotions take over in a last-ditch effort to save her. Tears streamed down your face as you maintained eye contact. "Frisk… I… I love you… and… I'm sorry…"

 ** _[Cue: Music Stop]_**

Suddenly, the blade faltered in her hand as her irises faded between red and brown. With a weak amount of strength, she threw the blade away from her as she fell to her knees, crying to herself. Grabbing and scratching at her own head. In her sobs, you could make out what she was saying, if only barely.

"C-Chara… please… stop this!" She sobbed. You now realize you weren't fighting Frisk, it was Chara who was doing this. You reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. You saved her, finally…

Then, she quickly jumped away, fear in her brown eyes. "N-no stay back… I… I can't stop her Alex. Run!"

Alex looked confused, that is, until her brown eyes faded back to a crimson color as the wicked smile returned, "Frisk… But we've come so far… we can't stop now when we're so close!" Frisk's body began to violently shake as the two beings fought for control of the body. After a moment, she collapsed onto the ground. Against your better judgement, you rush over to her side and shake her gently.

"F-Frisk? Wake up!" After a moment, her eyes fluttered open. The eyes were red and the smile returned, revealing who had just won the fight for control.

"Hehehe, sorry… Frisk's not here at the moment!" She lunged toward the knife as you backed away quickly. This just got a whole lot worse… and your fears were confirmed when the music began again, a bit more tense this time.

 ** _[Cue Absolute Megalo (By: That One Gentalmen)]_**

Luckily, it seemed the voice in your head had your back, the summoned swords returning to give you time to get out of striking range and prepare for your turn once more. Chara stood in the distance, ready to attack.

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [SPELL] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK *PLEAD REMINISCE**

You call out to Chara, "Chara, please. We don't need to fight. Didn't you want to save Monsters, not kill them?!"

Chara let out a maniacal laugh as she took another step towards you, "And what? Let them go to the surface and deal with you humans?!" She shook her head, "Sorry, but that sounds nothing like saving them. This, here, this is an act of mercy compared to what YOU'D all do to them!"

 ***You get the feeling that ACTing might not do much here. Maybe weakening her first would work?**

You would have nodded in agreement, if it weren't for the sudden lunge towards you from Chara, her knife now glowing a bright hot red. It was as if her knife was now imbued with magic. You dove to the side as she stabbed the spot you were previously standing on. As she got back up and lunged again you used what little Integrity you had left to increase her gravity, stopping her in her tracks and making her hit the ground hard.

Taking the opportunity, the summoned swords lunged for the downed and possessed Frisk. A few of them managed to actually impacted her, but due to her insane DEF she only lost a few HP. She merely shrugged it off as she stood back up, smiling like before. "Hehe, dirty trick human… but after all, I expected nothing less from the likes of you!" She said as she pointed the knife right at you from afar.

The attack ended with the last of the Integrity leaving your soul, returning it to its normal silver hue. The options appeared once more.

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [SPELL] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **WEAPON TRAIT *INFUSE COPY**

You rub your chin slightly, wondering what exactly 'Infuse' meant, but it sounded good. After a couple seconds, something happened.

 ***You are filled with JUSTICE… The Justice has moved to the Summoned Swords. Added bonus when attacking enemies of high LV.**

You looked down at sword in your hands as it began to glow yellow, much like how Chara's knife was glowing red. To test it out, you raised it up toward Chara and sent a pulse of Pure energy into the sword with your soul, forcing a large beam of yellow energy soaring through the air towards Chara. She dove to the left as you looked down at your weapon with a smile forming.

 _'This thing… it's pretty awesome!'_ You thought as you returned your attention to Chara. Part of you wanted to do everything you could to stop Chara, but another part demanded care and precision, so as not to hurt Frisk.

 ***If you summon more Swords in this state, they will stay yellow, and I can have them be like blasters**

You look back up toward Chara as she raises her own knife towards you, sending red blasts of energy back towards you. Instinctively, you dive to the side to dodge them as they soar right past your head. You look back to your opponent, watching her dash towards you to attack as you quickly climb to your feet.

"Hahahaha, you know? This is a whole lot easier with you refusing to FIGHT back! Just like Papyrus…" Her blade clashed with your own. Hard. As you held your own against her and her taunting, you send a pulse from your soul into the blade, however you do it this time with the intent of summoning extra swords as blasters. The sword in your hand glows much brighter for a split second before dying back down again as you tried to use your magic.

She laughed, "Hahahaha, you can't even muster the strength to hit me?!" You held back your smile as she remained oblivious to what you really did. Behind them, you saw multiple yellow swords pointing at her. After a second, the blade seemed to split in two, going to either end of its hilt, before charging yellow energy and firing.

They all impacted with pinpoint precision, hitting Chara directly. Although she had a high DEF and HP, she was feeling the pain as she dove off to the side, spinning onto her back. She willed her knife to glow brighter as she swiped the air before her, creating slices of energy that sailed towards the glowing swords, destroying many.

"You think blasters can stop me? That trick is old! I've seen that comedian use them enough times!" She was now very angry, which wasn't totally unexpected.

The remaining blasters opened, as if to charge. As she began to run toward them to destroy them, something unexpected happened. Instead of blasting, they shot forwards with lightning fast speed, making the possessed child fall on the ground and get restrained as the blades went almost to the hilt, leaving her wrists and ankles trapped. She was no doubt in pain.

 ***Totally didn't just remember I can do that…**

Suddenly, the human looked up at you with tears in her eyes, which were now unfortunately brown. She cried out in pain, sending you to your knees too, seeing Frisk in pain. Your heart ached, seeing her like that.

 ***I can stop the pain, don't free her, it's likely a trick,**

Your heard the voice in your head but still hesitated. The yellowness of the blasters dulled, signifying they weren't hurting the child anymore, but still restraining them. You, against better judgement, took several steps forward, standing just a few feet from Frisk/Chara. The tears were still streaming down her eyes, but they weren't from physical pain any longer.

"A-Alex… I-I'm so so s-sorry!" She sobbed as she lay restrained on her back.

 ***She might not be able to hurt you, but I'd take some KINDNESS at the ready, just in case**

You looked down to your bracelet before stopping. Noticing for the first time in a while what was on your wrist below the Trait Synthesizer. It was your Friendship Bracelet that Frisk made. Looking over to said person, you saw the same exact bracelet on her wrist as well. "Alex…"

You look up from her wrist to her eyes, "Frisk?" You spoke softly, holding back tears from your eyes.

"I'm s-sorry…" Just then, as you dove from some sort of Instinct, a red glowing knife made entirely of energy grazed your side, yet caused a huge blossom of pain to erupt over your body, cutting your HP down quickly.

 ***HP**

You fell to your side, clutching the spot where you were hit as you tried to recover. As you looked back to Frisk, her tears began to come out even harder now after the attack.

 ***Take the KINDNESS! I can use it to heal you!**

You thought about it for a moment before reaching into your inventory as the menu popped back up. You decided to use it in a moment, instead opting for another item.

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [SPELL] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***SPAGHETTI NICE-CREAM TRAIT-SYNTH CLAVICLE KNIFE**

Alex ate Papyrus' spaghetti. Although not gourmet, it was much better than any previous pasta he had made.

 ***HP Maxed out**

You looked down to your other bracelet, now that the pain had finally stopped, and pressed down on the green bubble on it. The bright green liquid quickly absorbed into your bloodstream and into your soul. You could feel your body warming up a bit. You were filled with Pure Kindness.

Just as your soul began to turn a matching green, dual shields appeared on both arms. Although individually smaller than the single one Undyne normally makes, the dual shields were better in certain situations, such as this one. You smiled, looking at your green soul, and let out a sigh of relief. You did this for only a moment before your attention was grabbed by laughter.

You turned toward Frisk to see her eyes returned to a crimson red as the tears stopped streaming down her face. She was restrained, but was laughing nonetheless. Unfortunately, the kindness seemed to have a side effect, the blasters vanishing. You only had a moment to try to leap to the right as two more magical knives soared by.

"Well, I believe it's my turn now!" You turned to look towards her, dozens of magical red knifes danced around her now standing form. You gulped as you jumped back to your feet, ready to defend yourself.

 ***The blaster ones are gone, but remember, if you can manage to just swing the summoned one a little, I can make more to try and help you block!**

On cue, Chara sent all of the knives flying towards you. A few quick images of your battle against Gaster and Mettaton gave you an idea. Against better judgement, and to the surprise of Chara and maybe even the voice as well, you dropped the weapon and spun counter clockwise with both shields active on your arms.

As the first knives reached your position, your spinning form ricocheted the knives away and into the ground, ceiling, or pillars in the hall. You jumped side to side, in tune to the battle music all around you, dodging several knives and knocking away the others. Not a single knife even got close to impacting you as you flowed with the rhythm.

As you spun, you caught a quick glance of Chara, her mouth opened in shock. In fact, she was caught so off guard by this, she neglected to summon more waves of knives, thus ending her attack earlier than she probably planned it to be. You let a smile form on your face as the familiar options appeared before you for battle, but not before sliding over to the blade you previously dropped and picked it back up.

You decided to try something new now.

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [SPELL] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **FLEE *SPARE**

Chara stood there, speechless. For a moment, unmoving. Then, she laughed. Her laugh echoed across the hallway.

 ***Yeah… did you expect that to be any different?**

You sighed as her laughter began to die down. "Y-you thought you could just Spare me? What an idiot. What makes you think I wanted your pathetic MERCY?!"

You tried to think quickly, trying to respond to her question before she began to attack again, "W-what about Azzy? H-he wouldn't want any of this…"

Chara froze in her face, her body trembling for a moment. At first, it looked like she may be crying, or even laughing… but then you saw, it was rage that was shaking her. "You think I care about Az- Asriel?! That pathetic excuse of a friend was the reason we died! You think he means ANYTHING TO ME?!"

She lunged forwards as you raised both of your hands in front of you, both shields overlapping as she and her knife impacted them. She was pressing hard against the shields, causing them to begin to crack, "I've enjoyed killing every single thing down here, but you know what?! I think I'm going to enjoy this just a little bit more!" You were beginning to struggle under the pressure.

 ***Keep talking about Asriel, I think I felt her resolve lessen a little!... or it was shaking in rage. Either or, really.**

You nodded as you looked into her blood red eyes, "But you wanted him to become a killer, lose his innocence! If anything, YOU'RE the pathetic excuse of a friend, trying to force them into being something he's not! So much for best friends forever!" The pressure against the shield managed to somehow increase.

"You think that little goat monster was my best friend? I don't need anyone. Never have!" She screamed back at you as the shields finally burst. The energy of the blast sent them both flying backwards. As you returned to your feet, an idea formed in your head, separate from the voice. It was time to make another move.

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [SPELL] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **NICE-CREAM TRAIT-SYNTH CLAVICLE *KNIFE**

You threw the special sword you had back into your inventory as you took out the pocket knife, examining it closely before wielding it. **{Phillip's Knife: ATK 20}**

Chara's eyes widened upon seeing the blade in your hands, equipped. Her fists were balled up and she pointed the knife towards you in her hand, "WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET THAT KNIFE?!" She nearly screamed. Her eyes now visibly producing a bright red glow. Against every fiber of your being telling you not to continue with this train of thought, you gave her a response.

"W-well, I thought you never needed anyone? If that's the case, why did you keep this?" You asked, showing the knife off a bit higher now in your hand. This caused her anger to soar to even greater heights. You gulped, seeing her anger.

 ***You may have the feeling you dun messed up**

Her red glow began to glow brighter and brighter, turning the normally black and white arena created by battle magic into various shades of red. This display took up a few moments, giving you one final turn before all hell breaks loose.

 ***Okay, listen. This is bad. I have one last trick up my sleeve… check SPELL, there SHOULD be something new.**

You nodded as the familiar options appeared before you.

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [SPELL] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **WEAPON *FULL-TRAIT INFUSE COPY**

Although uncertain what exactly this new option would do, you trusted the voice in your head, that may or not be imaginary, and chose it.

 ***You are filled with Pure Kindness...**

 ***You are filled with Pure Integrity...**

 ***You are filled with Pure Perseverance...**

 ***You are filled with Pure Justice...**

 ***You are filled with Pure Patience...**

 ***You are filled with Pure Bravery...**

 ***You are filled with Pure Determination...**

 ***You are filled with…** ** _Rainbow_**

You couldn't help but snicker at that last phrase. Suddenly, just as the voice described, your silver soul before you began to glow brightly. The traits swirling around your soul like fluid tie dye. It was quite captivating, it it weren't uncomfortable. In fact, you felt your soul begin to heat up uncomfortably as it tried to manage all of the traits at once. This would only last a short amount of time... if it didn't crack your soul first...

You also felt yourself fill with energy and power… somehow, you knew if it wasn't for the voice, this wouldn't be working anywhere near as well as it is currently. Then, every thought was interrupted by Chara's angry scream. Around her were at least several hundred knives as she got up to her feet, looking straight at you with blood lust.

Then, she lunged at unimaginable speeds, appearing directly in front of you with her knife held tightly in her hand.

 ***KINDNESS!**

The voice in your head shouted, and the green in your SOUL reacted, a giant shield appearing in front of you, Chara hitting it and bouncing back. She made a perfect landing on her feet before swiping at you with her unarmed hand.

Obeying her whim, dozens of knives began to head straight towards you from every imaginable angle. You willed the shield to adapt and protect from every single knife strike, but the shield was being stretched too thinly, making it about to shatter. An idea appeared in your head as you focused on Pure Justice.

On command, the shield turned bright yellow as it quickly expanded, destroying the entire first wave of knifes instantly, but Chara was waiting for an opening as she dove towards you again. In a panic, you felt filled with Pure Integrity, greatly increasing your own gravity to dodge the attack and allowing her to harmlessly pass over your head. After getting out of harm's way, your gravity returned to normal.

She landed on her hands, pushing herself back up into a flip and landing on her feet for just a nanosecond before she ran towards you again.

You felt yourself be filled with Pure Justice, and more of the strange sword blasters appeared around you, a rainbow tint to them as they fire beams at Chara, giving her almost no room to dodge. You looked to the blasters, trying to come up with something else. Then, it hit you. You focused on your soul and the need to make it through this fight. You were filled with Pure Perseverance. You sent the purple magic into the blasters as a few actually hit Chara.

Her HP began to plummet as a magical purple flame enveloped her body. You knew exactly what this was: KARMA. Every LV she had gained only made the flames worse, and you desperately hoped that Frisk would feel none of this pain. You knew from personal experience how bad it was with even just one LV.

Ignoring the pain, somehow, Chara ran towards you again undeterred. She lunged for the blade in your hand while simultaneously trying to stab you with her own. You felt yourself fill with Pure Bravery, and the world slowed a little as your speed increased. Barely in time, you dove to the side as Chara missed you, your speed confusing her for only a split second.

 ***Okay, if you have anything that takes away corruption, use it now, I'll add RAINBOW to it and we can finish this!**

You smiled, already ahead of them. Using every part of your soul, you focus on Chara. You felt the colors in your soul recede slightly, showing off the silver core of it. You focused intently on trying to save both Frisk and Chara. You…

 ***You were filled with Purity**

An intense silver beam of Pure energy soared out of your soul towards Chara's red one, impacting it directly and wrapping around it so as to hit every single spot. Despite this, Chara's DETERMINATION seemed to be holding against the beam of Purity.

You heard nothing, but suddenly felt the voice in your head do something. The beam you were firing suddenly grew three times its size, going from a silver to a rainbow spiraling around a silver core.

 ***You unleashed PURIFYING RAINBOW**

 ** _{Cue: End of Music}_**

The whole world erupted in light as the red hue to the arena dissipated, returning to its normal black and white appearance. Chara knelt on the ground with her head hung low, hair obstructing her eyes. You felt the other foreign traits leave your soul, finally allowing you to take a deep breath as you took a step closer. Now that everything was silent, you could hear Chara sobbing, tears impacting the ground. It wasn't like when Frisk was crying earlier. No, this was Chara crying now.

You took another step forward as she looked up at you. "P-please…" She pleaded, "G-give me back the knife," She pleaded, pointing to the small knife still in your hand, "T-that's all I h-have left of him…" Tears continued to roll as she knelt before you, defeated.

You took a few steps closer to her, closed the knife and put away the blade, and gently placed it on the ground next to her. She slowly reached out and held it close to her chest as she continued to cry, this time a bit softer now, as if she was slightly relieved now to have it back. "Y-you know… I used to make fun of Azzy for crying…" She managed a weak smile as the tears finally slowed. "I c-called him a baby. Told him big kids d-don't cry."

She looked deep into your eyes for a moment before continuing, "Y-you're not like the other humans I've seen. Frisk… she's not like them either… Heh, you both still believe that humans can still be good…"

You sat down in front of her, only about a foot away, "They still can. Not all are good, but everyone can be a good person if they try…"

She looked like she didn't believe you, "You… I've seen how much you care about each other… would you still feel the same if you had to watch her die? Knowing you did nothing to help her… because you were a coward?!" She asked, bitterly yet quietly.

You remained silent for a moment before continuing, she held up the blade you had just returned to her, "This was my best friend's… he made me think just like you…" She began to choke up a bit.

You decided to speak, "You ran away, and left him to die when he asked you to?" You remembered when Chara told you about her past. To your surprise, she shook her head.

"No. I… I ran, but I turned back to try to help… and… I watched him die. Strike after strike by those... humans... With his knife, in my anger I… I…" She shook her head while trying to clear her throat, her eyes were bloodshot now, and not just her irises, "N-needless to say, he wasn't t-the only one who's body was f-found the next day. W-when I did it, I realized… no human is pure or good… especially not me..."

"What about Frisk? Or me?"

 ***Considering your SOUL IS PURITY, I think you're a exception.**

You shook your head, "Or Phillip, wasn't he good?"

Her voice shook a bit as she spoke, "Yeah… but didn't you hear where that landed him?"

"Chara… I'm so sorry…"

 ***...I'll be right back...**

She shook her head and smiled gently, "Thanks… but I see now, I might have been wrong. You… you never wanted to fight me. Frisk… she never wanted to hurt anyone. I thought… maybe if I could get strong enough, I could stop the humans… but I guess I turned out to be the worst of them all…"

You shook your head as you got up, walking to her side, and sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around to hug her close to you despite the previous battle. The world faded away as color rushed back in to fill it in. The battle was over.

* * *

Alex sat there, comforting Chara for a bit longer as she remained silent. They two of them sat together silently in the center of Judgement Hall. The hall was still filled with light, there were definitely flowers blooming outside, birds could still be heard singing, it was a beautiful day. After a moment longer, Chara broke the silence, looking over to Alex and looking into his eyes.

"I… I know you're not from this world…" Alex looked surprised and began trying to formulate a counter argument before Chara lifted a hand to silence him before he started. "You knew so much about me and Frisk, and she recognized you but… that scientist… Gaster… he brought you here didn't he?"

In defeat, Alex nodded slowly. She gently smiled, "It's ok, we needed to be stopped." She straightened her face as she spoke again, "Even with that LV and EXP I had before I fell… I still chose this path… I… needed someone to stop me, so… thanks."

"A-are you going to Reset the timeline?"

"And give Frisk a happier ending? Yeah… I think I will… but I won't be a part of it…"

"W-what?!"

Chara looked saddened for a moment before she tried to hide it, "Look what I did," She motioned to their surroundings, "Even if I Reset, that skeleton never fully forgets… he'll remember what I did. I don't deserve his forgiveness… not that he'd even consider giving it to me."

 ***Okay, back, what'd I miss?**

Alex sighed internally as he continued to look at Chara. "Chara, an-"

She cut him off while looking away, "Yeah, yeah. I've heard it all before: 'Anyone can be a good person if they just try.' I've heard it more times then I can count, but…"

"Chara, at least give it a chance…"

Finally, she relented, "I guess I could try. I should at least apologize to him after I reset." She looked back at Alex with a hint of concern, "But… you should leave… before I reset."

Alex thought for a moment before realizing why she felt concerned for him. If this wasn't his timeline, and the world reset to before he came in, he wouldn't exactly have a spot to reset to. Alex nodded, "But, what about Frisk?"

Chara looked even sadder for a moment, "I'm… I'm going to try to erase her memories. She doesn't need these kind of things in her head."

Alex nodded solemnly, agreeing. He stood up for a moment as Chara did the same. Before Alex could do anything else, she hugged him tightly, surprising him for only a moment before he returned it by wrapping his own arms around her.

 ***You know, I can help here… but I used a lot of energy in that fight, I'm gonna need something from this universe first.**

 _'Like what? What do you plan to do?'_ Alex thought silently as he continued the hug.

 ***Well, I can do something better. I can REVIVE the monsters, and wipe selective memories. To the monsters? They'll have blacked out for a while, but won't know about being murdered. And, while I have the energy, I can fix a certain couple of people that I believe your Gaster has half done.**

Alex thought for a moment, _'But, would that alter the timeline too much?'_

 ***Heh… kid, when my energies up? The 'timeline' will have no say in the matter. Trust me, it'll be fine. I do this kinda stuff all the time.**

Alex nodded hesitantly before agreeing. _'I… I guess. I don't know much about this science stuff, so… sure'_

 ***Nice. We just need to convince Asgore to reveal the SOULs, and I'll handle the rest. Let's get going, tell Chara what we're doing, so she doesn't RESET while we're busy.**

Alex finished up the hug after a moment and looked Chara in the eyes, "Wait…"

She tilted her head in confusion, "What? Why?"

"J-just trust me. I have a, uh… friend, yeah, who's willing to fix everything." Chara looked confused for a moment before she shrugged.

"A-alright then, sure. I'll just, uh… wait here for a bit."

 ***Let's go.**

* * *

Alex now stood silently with six human souls hovering over his fingertips. Something felt wrong about holding another human's soul, but was quickly ignored due to the reason why he was doing it. The odd light by the barrier was enchanting, but he stood there, waiting to see what he had to do next.

 ***Here I go.**

The voice in his head said, before something strange happened. A black and white SOUL shot out of Alex, taking the other six around his hands with it. The Black and White seemed to shoot tendrils out, connecting to the other Six and absorbing them.

The strange SOUL pulsed, beating, before light overcame him. Throughout the Underground, the light touched the remaining monsters and the piles of dust, the two humans in one and even the flower. For the humans, they were separate as the formless one gained one. For the Flower, it was restored to it's goat monster self.

Next, it worked on the not live populace. It erased the memories of this timeline, even Sans', the light too quick for him to dodge it. After it did so, the light gathered back at the SOUL it came from, before turning on the barrier. The energy fought and tore at the barrier, breaking it slowly, absorbing it bit by bit until it was gone. Finally, when it was done, the SOUL went back into Alex.

Alex was amazed by everything he saw for just his spot. He couldn't help but smile as he spoke for the first time in several minutes, "S-so everything is fixed?" Before the voice could answer, he absentmindedly took out his phone to look at the time and jumped in fright.

"W-wait, if this is still on my time… then… CRAP! I gotta get home before mom freaks out, which would make dad freak out and then I wouldn't be able to sleepover any more with the skeletons because they'd get mad at Gaster and then I… I…" Alex took a deep breath for a moment to calm themselves down.

"D-did we finish helping them, at least?" He finally asked after calming down.

 ***Yep. Even took Chara's LV away. Ready to go back?**

Alex nodded, "Great. Let's go voice!" Alex only took a moment to contemplate the voice's existence one last time before pulling out a small box from his pocket. On the device was a large button that read 'Return'.

 ***Heh… names Rindie, kid.**

Alex nodded, "At least I know I'm not crazy now… I think…" He said, rubbing his chin for a moment before quickly pressing the large button on the device in his hand. In his haste, he neglected to check the entire device and notice that there was a slash across the back of it from the fight. As the button was pressed, sparks flew out of the bottom of it, signalling an issue.

Alex had only a moment to notice this before he was violently pulled from the timeline into the Void between universes, neither home nor where he was. This… was going to be a problem…

* * *

Far off in a separate darkness was a completely different being. He stood there in the vast infiniteness and emptiness of this void. This being stood there, shaking in anger as he watched what just occurred. A Genocide timeline was changed. Not Reset. Not aborted. Just… changed… And for what, some stupid 'entity' to stop? Bah, ridiculous!

They materialized a bookshelf for the sole purpose of it then being thrown and destroyed in their anger. "That's not how it's supposed to go! That's not how these timelines work!" He shouted in rage, knowing full well that no one could hear him. "That's not how this game is supposed to WORK! There can't just be a 'happy' ending every time!"

They continued to yell in this empty space, feeling betrayed. "This… this is my world. MINE! And these people think they can just waltz right in and alter MY WORK!" They were pissed. Pissed at Alex, pissed at Rindie, but most of all… pissed at… him…

"Him…" Just thinking about it made him angrier. They looked straight up and began to shout again, "You can't do this! This is my world, I have control here!" Well, it didn't matter. They had a plan now, a plan to take it all back. The being turned towards the **_[eRrOr: OveRWrItE aTteMpT sUcCeSsFuL. rUlEs ChAnGeD]_**

The being turned, looking directly at the readers of this pathetic excuse of a story, "And it starts now!" Then, the being disappeared into the darkness around them, hiding themselves from view.

* * *

 ** _To quote a certain timelines ending… since when were you the ones in control?_**

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

Razaraga: Hi!

This little story arc was a blast to write, if a bit dramatic. Shout-out to Razaraga for all the help with these last few chapters, and most of all, their own character:

Rindie (aka: Totally-Not-Insane-Voice-In-Alex's-Head)

Razaraga: This was super fun. (Don't read my stories I stop trying on those after a couple chapters they get bad fast XD)

If you liked what we wrote, let us know with a review or PM to myself or Razaraga. Maybe even Favorite or Follow my story if you haven't done so yet. If you have a recommendation for a cool battle scene or scenario, let us know and it'll at least be considered. Thanks for reading this story and I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed writing it!

-swrWriter

Ps:Banana-Razaraga


	9. Return to 'OUR' Reality

Alex looked around and saw literally nothing. It was just darkness all around, yet it wasn't dark. They could make out their own features, but nothing was around them at all. Alex reached into his pocket and pulled out the damaged device, frowning at it.

"Great, Toriel's gonna kill me… wait… no, Toriel's gonna kill Gaster." Alex thought they were just talking to themselves at first, since they saw nothing. However, they felt like there was someone else nearby. It felt… similar to the voice in their head… but different. It was hard to describe.

 ***Greetings, Alex**

Alex spun around and looked in every direction. Still, they saw nothing. The voice sounded real this time, not just in their head. It sounded like a physical voice. Alex decided to try to respond.

"U-uh, hello?" They asked quietly, unsure if the voice would be friendly or not.

 ***It's me, Rindie, it is nice to be more… face to 'face', with you,**

"S-so... Rindie, you were the voice in my head, r-right? And I don't really see your face… n-not that I'm complaining..." Alex continued to search for the voice's origin without success.

 **Hold on…**

Nothing seemed to happen for a little, before a white outline appeared, in the general shape of a child. Alex tried to squint their eyes to see if they could see the person any clearer. "A-are you a human?"

 ***I am a little of this, a little of that…**

The figure shrugged then. Alex rubbed his chin for a moment, trying to understand. "Does that mean you're a monster/human hybrid? Or did a monster absorb your human soul? Or were you a human who absorbed a boss monster soul? Or…" Alex paused for a moment and took a deep breath.

"I'm confused…" They finally said, rubbing the back of their head.

 **Yes,**

That was all Rindie said, implying that all of that had happened to them at some point. Alex narrowed his eyes towards the figure and replied sarcastically, "Well, that certainly clears that up then…" Alex paused for a moment to think.

If this person had been in their head for the past day or so, did that mean they read his thoughts? Horror appeared on Alex's face, "W-wait a moment. S-so you have been in my head… d-does that m-mean you listened to everything I said and everything I th-thought?"

A hot red blush appeared on Alex's face.

 ***Yes, I know exactly how much want to take Frisk an-**

Alex, without any thought or hesitation, cut off Rindie, "Shut up!" He crossed his arms for a moment, "Not… fair…"

 ***-nd hug them and kiss them and tell them you love them.**

"I-it was just s-something I said to, uhh… snap Frisk out of it, yeah! S-so, shush!" Alex tried, lying as best as he could even though he knew deep down that Papyrus could have done better.

 ***Yes. That is why it was in your thoughts of your Frisk. Not the one we just saved.**

The figure was slow clapping. "It'd be nice if you'd give me a break…" He grumbled, arms still crossed.

 ***Sorry, sorry. I was just teasing you. Anyway, you seem a little stuck.**

Alex sighed before grabbing the damaged device from his pocket once more, "Yeah… I probably should have checked how it looked before I pressed the button…" Alex motioned to their surroundings, "Otherwise we wouldn't have ended up here…" Alex rubbed his chin for a moment, "Hey... what were you doing in my head anyways?" He finally asked.

 ***I tripped and fell in.**

Alex narrowed their eyes at the figure before him. For an excuse, that one was kinda bad, however… Alex felt like it was at least partially the truth. "So, you tripped… and fell into me? From what Frisk and Chara told me, that doesn't sound like how it normally works."

 ***I'm obviously a bit different.**

The confusion was not lessening. Alex, still confused, asked, "How so? You know, aside from the weird soul I saw earlier?"

 ***There's many things different… but never mind that. For now, I think we should be getting you home. Do you mind if I… visit?**

Alex thought to himself for a moment, weighing the options and coming up with almost nothing against the idea, "Sure… but Dr. Gaster said he's always wanted to meet someone that can travel between timelines. He said he hasn't met one yet, but you could make his day!" Alex said with a smile.

 ***I wouldn't mind paying your Gaster a visit.**

Alex smiled a bit wider now, "Great, now we c-..." Then Alex remembered, "Crap, the device is busted still…" He said, still holding onto the broken device. Knowing full well it wouldn't fix it, Alex still shook the device back and forth, banging it against his other hand a few times. Just as expected, the device was not one bit better.

Alex got the feeling that Rindie rolled their eyes.

 ***I'll see you there.**

That was all he heard, before the figure snapped. Alex held out a hand toward the figure, trying to get their attention before they vanished, "Wait, what about this!?" He quickly asked, holding out the device.

 ***Have your Gaster fix it when you get there!**

"What?" Alex scratched his head, "Then how do I get back?"

 ***Look down.**

As Alex was suspended in the Void around him, he decided to heed the voice's command and looked down. Far below him laid a purple vortex similar to the one Gaster created in his lab. As soon as Alex saw the vortex, he began to fall towards it at an alarming speed, causing him to scream with a combination of fear and excitement, but mostly the first one.

The moment Alex touched the vortex, the Void around him faded into complete, blinding light. His clear head, now with Rindie no longer being a voice in his head, was immediately filled with a horrible pain as he tore through the fabric of reality between him and his own timeline. However, Alex somehow held onto his consciousness throughout this entire ordeal.

* * *

Suddenly, Alex was lying on the cold tiles of Gaster's lab, desperately wishing for a nap after everything that has happened up to this point. Before sleep could even hope of overtaking Alex, his tiredness was interrupted by a loud argument in another room. Whoever it was, they must have not heard Alex's entrance. Listening clearly, Alex could make out Gaster's voice as one, but was unsure about the other.

 ** _"I had no idea something like THAT would happen. I sent Alex in for what was supposed to be a simple mission!"_** He sounded mad.

"It doesn't matter Doctor. You saw that pulse of energy, that timeline was altered… heavily. That normally DOESN'T happen…"

 ** _"But the readings show it was for the better. That timeline didn't shatter, so I think it was a success, although unorthodox."_**

"Regardless of the immediate outcome, the fact that it was heavily altered will send shockwaves throughout the universe. Your time may have just been reduced significantly…"

Alex slowly peeked around the corner to what was happening and who was arguing. Gaster stood with his back towards Alex in another room. In front of him was some sort of human, or at least it looked like a human. In fact, it looked eerily similar to Frisk… minus a few years of growth… and color… and… eyes? This was weird. The 'Frisk' noticed his presence but didn't say anything about it.

"And furthermore, you refuse to let anyone else know about this! About me!"

Gaster slammed his hand on a table nearby, **_"Dammit, they don't need to know about this!"_** Alex tried to take a step back, but slipped and fell due to their own clumsiness, getting the attention of Gaster immediately.

"Great job there," The voice of Rindie said, crossing their arms, just out of sight of the other two. Alex would have shot them a glare, if not for the glare he was now receiving from Gaster. After a split second, Gaster's glare dissolved and turned into a smile and sigh of relief as he picked up Alex in a hug.

 ** _"Alex, thank god you're back!"_** He said, ecstatic of his return, **_"I'm so sorry about that! I should have known better than to trust myself, especially while I was in the Void…"_**

Alex hugged back, "It's ok Gaster, I did it. I saved Frisk." Gaster nodded and smiled before a throat was cleared behind him. Gaster let go of Alex and turned back to the small child behind him.

"Doctor, I will be taking my leave…" As the being took a small step back, they spoke again, "And I'd recommend filling everyone in…" Their expression softened, "...You're not in the Void anymore. You don't have to do this alone." With that, Core Frisk disappeared.

"Uh, umm, Doctor Gaster? Who was that?" Gaster sighed, **_"I'll explain later. If I'm going to fill everyone in, might as well do it all at once."_**

Alex nodded before grabbing Gaster's hand and leading him into the hallway and back into the main lab. "I… I brought a friend who wants to meet you!" Alex said as he quickly led Gaster into the lab. His eyes widened as Alex said this.

 ** _"From the other timeline? No, no, we can't. They could be dangerous, and it may mess with the timeline even more…"_** Alex ignored his concerns as they both entered the main lab. Alex looked around for Rindie, wondering where they went.

"Hmm, they were here a moment ago." He said as he scanned the room for his new friend.

 ** _"Alex, you're not listening. This isn't safe…"_**

"But Gaster, they saved me, and helped that timeline too." Alex interrupted.

 ** _"Wait, your 'friend' was the one responsible for that pulse of energy?"_** Alex grunted and nodded as he continued to look for Rindie, to no success.

"Up here." Rindie said. The two looked up, and saw Rindie, cross legged, floating above them. Alex smiled, while Gaster's jaw opened wide in awe, staring at the figure above them.

 ** _"You… you're the one who sent out that pulse in the timeline, weren't you?"_** He asked slowly.

Alex tugged on one of the lab coat sleeves to get Gaster's attention, "Aren't you supposed to begin with introductions?" Alex asked with a bit of a snarky tone, receiving a quick scowl from Gaster before he finally sighed in defeat.

 ** _"Sorry. If you didn't know, my name is Doctor W. D. Gaster."_** He said with a small, confident smile. **_"And you are?"_** Gaster nudged Alex with an elbow, **_"Alex, here, neglected to introduce you."_** Gaster could see Alex sticking his tongue out at him from the corner of his eye, but he ignored it as best as he could.

"My names Rindie, and yeah, I made the pulse, why?" Rindie said, going upright and floating to eye level with Gaster.

Gaster nodded slowly, **_"You must be incredibly powerful to have been able to manage something like that."_** He said with a smile, **_"Unfortunately, one unintended consequence of it has made that timeline, and this one, to be a bit more…"_** Gaster spun his hand a bit, searching for the right world, **_"...visible to others…"_**

Gaster shook his head for a second, **_"Not that it changes much. Opening the portal to another timeline certainly didn't help things in my case…"_** He said as he frowned toward the still active vortex in his lab from his machine.

"I could try a little cloaky-cloaking, if you want," Rindie offered.

Gaster smiled a bit before responding, **_"What's done is done, it does not really matter at this point. If we're hidden from view, it will just mean that another timeline will be targeting in our place. At least we have a means of defending ourselves here."_** He said as he motioned to many of the machines around him, scattered across the lab.

Gaster then looked back at Rindie, **_"So, you can move through timelines at will?"_**

"Yep!" Rindie said, the 'p' popping.

Alex jumped over a bit, now standing between the other two people in the room. "Yeah, and they were so cool. I was trying to help Frisk, and they came in and we went 'whoosh' and teleported like you and Sans. And then, they showed me some more magic and everything was all like rainbows and-"

Gaster reached out and grabbed Alex's shoulder, **_"Alright, alright. Calm down now…"_** Finally, Alex took a deep breath and nodded. "Anyway, they were so cool!" He added with a smile.

Rindie was still just an outline, though they got the impression the figure was smirking. Gaster shook his head for a moment while smiling, himself.

 ** _"I imagine you both saw the 'meeting' I had with Core Frisk…"_** He asked, his smile fading during the question, hoping he'd receive a confused expression in response.

"Maybe," Rindie said. Gaster sighed in defeat as he hung his head a bit. He looked over to Alex and saw him look away in shame, not wanting to answer the question himself.

 ** _"Well… if you couldn't tell, we don't have the best of relationships… but I've learned a lot from them, and they only wish to help other timelines…"_** He looked up at Rindie's form again, **_"They weren't too thrilled about that incident with the timeline, but I think they just don't like anything altering timelines that aren't from it,"_** Gaster then motioned between himself and Alex, **_"...including our stunt."_**

"Well, if they don't like how I helped it, that's their problem. They're being a bit of a hypocrite, not liking things altering timelines when their very presence in one does the same." Rindie said, huffing.

Gaster let out a soft chuckle, **_"I don't disagree with you. I do understand their point of view though… most things that travel between worlds DON'T have good intentions… After all, as much as I hate to admit it, we didn't exactly open the portal to save that timeline from genocide… it was more of a bargain that led us there."_**

"Well, it was still helped in the end, right?" Rindie said with a shrug.

Gaster smiled a bit more, just as Alex did the same, smiling widely, "Yeah, we saved them, didn't we Rindie?"

"Yep. Rainbow power." Rindie said, holding a fist up to Alex for a bump. Alex promptly accepted it, fist bumping Rindie with a wide smile across his face. Then, he laughed a bit, "Rainbow for the win!" Gaster only looked slightly confused at this.

To demonstrate, Rindie held up a hand, letting an orb of rainbow energy form. Gaster nodded with a smile before turning his head toward the pocket watch he kept in his coat. His eye sockets widened upon seeing the time, **_"Sh- Crap! Alex, it's already noon. You were supposed to be home by now… Toriel's gonna kill me…"_**

Alex would have laughed, if not for knowing how serious his mom could be about his safety. "Sh-she wasn't told about th-the whole thing, right?"

 ** _"No, but I'm sure she'll find out sooner or later if we don't hurry up."_** Gaster turned to Rindie, **_"Please, wait here and I'll be back in a moment."_**

"K." Rindie said, sitting down on the floor… and falling asleep. Gaster shook his head as they reminded him of Sans. Gaster reached out and took Alex's hand as they disappeared instantaneously.

* * *

After spending a good ten-minute lecture with Toriel, Gaster finally teleported back to the lab to find the figure, Rindie, asleep in the same spot as before. He smiled at the sleeping figure for a moment before walking over and putting a hand on their shoulder, gently nudging them awake.

"Huh?" They mumbled, looking up and standing. "Oh, your back? What took so long?"

Gaster sighed, **_"Sorry about that. Mrs. Dreemurr was not happy, but we managed to dodge a bullet there."_**

"I imagine dodging an actual one would be harder," Rindie commented, Gaster shook his head with a weak smiled, obviously disagreeing with Rindie's previous statement. "So, what'd you wanna talk about?"

Gaster nodded before walking over to his desk and sitting in his seat, motioning towards another seat next to him. **_"Why don't you take a seat?"_** He asked.

Rindie shrugged, going cross legged… in midair. Gaster looked ready to say something, opening his mouth, before quickly closing it again for a moment. He shook his head and cleared his throat.

 ** _"I saw the pulse's readings from earlier. The energy… the power needed to create that… You are much more than what you appear to be, aren't you?"_** Gaster said in a neutral tone, remaining as objective as possible.

"Yeah, so?" Rindie asked, tilting their head. Not like they were trying to hide it.

Gaster shook his head, **_"I've been studying the rifts and timelines as much as I could while Alex was gone. I've seen many beings with that kind of power… however you never showed up on ANY of them. In fact, I haven't seen any reason to believe you exist aside from you floating before me."_** Gaster lifted a hand and motioned towards Rindie, **_"Your energy readings from earlier were impressive, but they were odd, nearly breaking the rules of this universe…"_** Gaster eyed Rindie carefully from his seat.

"Yeah. I stopped needing to follow those a **_LoNG tiMe AgO_** ," Rindie said, shrugging.

Gaster's eyes turned bright purple for a moment, checking over the figure before him. Rindie could feel the CHECKing magic flow over them, peering into their raw data. Rindie, bemused, allowed it.

 ** _Rindie_**

 ** _AT: A?I1A_**

 ** _DF: C}OY;ON{"_**

 ***Gaster has gained a headache.**

Gaster's eyes returned to their normal color as he immediately stood up out of his chair. His breathing began to quicken as he now stared at Rindie with both caution and confusion. **_"You… I don't…"_** Gaster restrained himself from using his last resort, seeing as Rindie still meant no harm towards anyone. He tried to calm down.

"Yeah, sorry… checks only get that when I don't give them something to tell you." Rindie said with a shrug.

Gaster slammed his fist into his desk, causing a small crack to now appear over the wood, **_"Dammit… what…"_** Gaster tried to collect himself, **_"How high is your LOVE?"_** He finally asked.

"More than I ever wanted it to be." Rindie said, looking down, seeming to get a little darker.

Gaster only looked at them in confusion, **_"LOVE: Level of Violence, increased by EXP, or Execution Points. The more you gain, the easier it is to hurt others… How does one get it without wanting it?!"_** He asked harshly.

"B-by not h-having a choice." Rindie sniffled.

Gaster let out a small gasp in realization, **_"That's where your power comes from?! That's how you can shield against CHECKs, or travel between worlds easily, or influence trait magic?!"_** Gaster ignored Rindie's expression on their face as he rubbed his chin in deep thought.

Rindie was silent, floating down and curling into a ball, shaking greatly. Gaster continued, **_"But that requires a much greater LV then 20 for those effect?! How many have y-"_** Gaster stopped as he turned to look at Rindie, seeing the figure shuddering on the ground in a ball.

Gaster froze in place for a moment, silent. As he looked at the young figure before him, a quick flash of a memory played in his head. He remembered seeing Papyrus like this sometimes after a nightmare. This fatherly instinct, although weak, made him regret pressing Rindie like that, ignoring their feelings. **_"I…"_**

He slowly walked over to the balled-up figure and picked them up for a moment. Gaster remembered this stuff vividly, getting so caught up in his work that he refused to acknowledge anything he considered 'irrelevant to his current project', including the wellbeing of others. Still holding Rindie, he sat back down in his seat, ignoring parts of his mind that warned against this person's power…

Sitting there with Rindie in his arms, he let out a weak, pitiful chuckle, **_"Heh, guess some things never change…"_**

Rindie took a while to calm down, finally doing so about ten minutes later, wiping their strange off-white and off-black tears on their arm. Gaster sat there in silence a moment longer before looking down at Rindie, smiling weakly with a certain sadness in his eyes. **_"I'm… I'm not very good at this kind of stuff…"_**

"I-it's okay…" Rindie sniffled. "You just… wanna protect your universe."

 ** _"And I've screwed up so many times. I took Frisk from her family… I tried and even succeeded in killing Alex… I wasn't even smart enough to check which timeline Alex was going into… heh, and I didn't make a very good first impression with Core either…"_**

"T-trust me… you're not the worst Gaster out there… goopy or not." Rindie assured.

Gaster looked down at Rindie, smiling weakly, **_"Your LV… It's not natural, is it?"_**

"It's… weird… I somehow g-got it by… getting overloaded, b-by people wanting to help me…" Rindie said, looking to the side. "B-but… I-i d-didn't wanna d-d-destroy a-all the SOULs i-in the e-explosion t-that followed… b-but the m-more I absorbed t-to save…"

Gaster rubbed their back slowly, **_"I… I see… the LV was a byproduct of this explosion, but not earned normally…"_**

"I-it… d-didn't happen once, e-either… no m-matter w-where I went, f-f-for a while, I-i-i just kept… getting o-overloaded… taking the universe I-i was in with me…" Rindie said.

 ** _"T-the… entire universe?"_** Gaster whispered this quietly, making it barely audible. **_"So… all those timelines… were completely destroyed?"_**

"T-the universe… b-but I saved the SOULs in them…" Rindie told him, curling up a little more.

Gaster looked down at them, studying them for a moment, **_"I thought I felt an odd energy about you. You are filled with souls… and LV, but your body rejects complete absorption of both. Is this correct?"_**

"I-i-if you mean fusing? T-then yeah…" Rindie said, looking off to the side. "H-here… I'll show you…" Rindie floated off to the center of the room, sitting down. Rindies body went limp, as a Black and White SOUL came out. Out of the SOUL, bubbles appeared, dozens or more of different types. Inside of theses bubbles, connected by threads, were different kinds of SOULs, in different orientations shapes and sizes.

Gaster stood up for a moment, his curiosity getting the better of him as he approached and examined the souls. **_"This… this is incredible. Human and monster souls, all absorbed together. And some others… maybe animals or unique beings of other timelines even? It seems…"_** Gaster rubbed his chin as he looked closer.

 ** _"The amount of power it would take to even maintain the souls in one body… that's what the LV does, doesn't it?"_** He didn't expect a response, seeing the unconscious form of Rindie. The Black and White SOUL in the center pulsed once, Gaster getting an impression of [AFFIRMATIVE]... and a headache from the strange method of communication.

Gaster rubbed his head gently as the pain lessened, now he looked concerned, **_"But… you have not fully accepted the LV, your soul remains pure… or, at least, as pure as it could be. This…"_** Gaster looked carefully at the entire display, **_"This is unstable. That kind of raw, unabsorbed LV could easily get out of control."_**

As if answering him, the black half of the SOUL writhed. Black, LV tainted tendrils came out of it, going for the SOULs. In response, the white side reacted, white pure tendrils cutting off the LV tendrils and flashes, bringing the blackness down to a less… off color. Gaster hastily took a step forward and looked at Rindie's soul in concern.

 ** _"Please don't tell me that this is how you helped Alex. Please tell me you weren't trying to use this LV to strengthen your magic."_** His voice shaking a bit.

The white half flashed, gently reaching out towards the human SOUL bubbled. It absorbed a little power, gaining a rainbow coloration briefly, and making a golden bar appear, before returning to normal. No LV usage here. Gaster sighed in relief, but still looked at the soul in concern.

 ** _"I know quite a bit about souls Rindie, and you need to stop relying on the other souls as much. Try using your own magic for a while, the souls seem weaker than they should be…"_**

Suddenly, the display stopped, the SOULs returning to the white side of Rindies, their own returning to their form, them gasping as they woke up. "I-i know, b-but… i-it's been _so_ l-long… I don't remember what I could do anymore…" They said.

Gaster kneeled beside Rindie, **_"You need to rest, and use less magic. That LV is more serious than I realized, and if it fully reached your soul…"_** Gaster looked away for a moment, hoping he wasn't getting too attached to Rindie.

"W-well, i-in the past, t-to take a break, I'd… stop being me, for a while. I-i'd… turn into something else, bury the LV and the SOULs deep inside, a-and just… live." Rindie told him, shrugging a little.

Gaster nodded, although a bit confused, **_"You… you wish to stay here, for the time being?"_**

"S-sure…" Rindie said, smiling a little. "M-maybe… be a skeleton? T-that's always fun… m-maybe I'll be a girl one this time… a-a word of warning, to really relax… I'd n-need to temporarily give myself amnesia."

Gaster shook his head wilding for a moment, **_"Wait, wait, wait! I didn't… I mean, I wasn't…"_** Gaster looked at Rindie for a moment before trying to continue, sighing before he did, **_"You want to rest here? For a while? While not remembering everything?"_** He asked, still confused, holding his skull in his hand.

"It's… n-not as bad as you think… I-i'd need too, otherwise, the _stress_ of knowing a-about all the SOULs and the LV in me… w-would remove the point, now wouldn't it?" Rindie said, an impression of a sad smile on their form.

Gaster sighed again and shrugged in defeat. He, personally, would feel even more stressed, not knowing who he was, but it did make at least a little sense. **_"So… you want to be a skeleton? I guess I could easily explain it as an adoption. I have been taking several trips lately to the Underground…"_**

"I-i'll go there, m-meet you there… it'll be nice to meet you," Rindie said with a sad smile, starting to fade. As soon as Rindie was gone, Gaster collapsed into his chair and sighed. What had he just agreed to?! He sat there a few minutes longer, trying to go over everything that's happened today so far… and now, he was going to have a 'new daughter'. He was still confused, but eventually melted into the shadows as he disappeared from his lab.

* * *

The world was reestablished, showing off the familiar scenery of Snowdin Town. However, now that everyone has moved out, the lights were all out and many belongings were taken to the surface. The only light in the cavern came from the magical energy in the air, just like how it continues to snow underground for no better reason other than magic. Gaster appeared right beside Grillby's first pub in the center of town.

He found the door busted, skeletal tracks leading inside. Gaster smiled to himself. It was odd, but it seemed that Snowdin had a certain attraction to skeleton monsters. Gaster walked inside and looked around the dark building. Most of it was how he remembered, but this was never a hangout spot for the doctor, rather he often had to come out here looking for Sans.

The door to the back was ajar, the sound of things moving coming from it. Gaster tilted his head slightly in curiosity as he slowly opened the door the rest of the way and made his way inside. The back room was in worse shape than he thought, many bags and cases, of what used to be monster food, were scattered around the floor and torn open in some sort of panicked frenzy.

He saw a figure digging into one such container, a bone-tail waving under the rag they were wearing, not much else seen from under the long, improvised cloth. Gaster took another step inside as he spoke, **_"Hello? Is anyone in here?"_** He asked in concern in a quieter tone.

The figure made a startled jump, knocking over several cans and falling down, yelping. Gaster took a few steps closer slowly, now just a couple feet from the skeleton. **_"I'm not going to hurt you. Are you ok?"_** He gently asked again. Thinking back, he remembered Rindie saying something about no memory, but seeing a monster like this broke his heart.

The little monster let out a whimper, sounding pained. Gaster reached slowly out toward the them, removing part of the rag from the monster's head to reveal their face.

It was obviously a skeleton, female. The skeleton looked scared, and very hurt, cracks running across what he could see of her collar bone, implying there was more underneath the rag. Gaster reached out and gently put a hand on the skeleton's shoulder, **_"You're… you're hurt. I can help, if you'd like?"_**

The little girl simply nodded weakly, whimpering again. Gaster nodded and smiled weakly as he held out a hand toward one of hers and gently held her hand. **_"Don't worry, it will only last a moment."_** Before any sort of reply could be made, Gaster and the young skeleton vanished into the shadows, leaving the Underground behind.

* * *

Back in the Lab, Gaster was treating the young monster's wounds. The cracks in her bones were luckily only on the surface, and hadn't reached the marrow. Using what little healing magic he did know, and the help of some magical bone cream from Papyrus' childhood, the cracks were beginning to heal, although slower than he'd like. Gaster looked into the young skeleton's eye sockets now, she seemed a bit calmer after the medicine and magic began to numb any pain.

 ** _"Do you remember anything? Your name? Where you came from?"_**

"V-v-verdana," The skeleton girl said. Gaster looked into her sockets, and for a moment, saw Rindies black and white SOUL, chained and seemingly dormant, before it vanished. He looked back at the skeleton.

 ** _"Verdana, huh? A beautiful name."_** He said as he gently smiled at her. **_"Do you remember what happened to you? Why you were down there?"_**

Verdana shook her head a little, sniffling. Gaster nodded, still smiling warmly towards her trying to keep her calm, **_"It's ok. How about…"_** He stopped for a moment before resuming, **_"How about you stay here for a while… at least until you're ready to go back to wherever you're from, ok?"_**

Verdana nodded a little. Seemed she trusted the older skeleton. Gaster smiled, **_"Perfect, I'm going to make a few phone calls, but it'll only be a moment. Stay right here, alright?"_** He asked as he stood back up. She nodded again, eye-sockets drooping a little. The little cute skele was tired.

Gaster chuckled, **_"You'll get along just fine with Sans."_** Gaster then took a few steps away as he began his string of phone calls. First to his sons, then to Asgore, and then to Alphys about some research. Today has been a long day and, for once, he was looking forward to a plate of Papyrus' spaghetti tonight. Gaster shook his head for a moment before frowning. Since when did he felt that way about his spaghetti? He laughed a bit, guess it was growing on him…

Hopefully Verdana would enjoy it…

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _So, it seems Rindie, or Verdana, will be staying a while. After that ordeal, it should only be a matter of time before Chara returns with a body and life returns to normal… but we all know it can't possibly be 'normal' forever. Especially with powerful and dangerous people from the multiverse…_**

 ** _If you like meeting new skeletons or losing your memory, you might wanna get that checked out before leaving a PM or Review. Shout-out to Rezaraga for Rindie and the help with the chapter. If ya'll like Rindie, send 'em a PM or leave a review. And don't worry: cuter moment, funnier moments, and more fun with the other characters are coming soon._**

 ** _Hope you enjoyed the chapter!_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	10. New Students Old Bullies

Gaster sighed as he ran around his house early Monday morning with his coffee mug filled to the brim in his hand. It has been a long time since he's had to worry about sending children off to school, and it didn't help that this past weekend was insane. After Alex returned last Sunday, he has been taking care of Verdana and introducing her to many people, including the King and Queen.

The teacher she was, Toriel refused to accept no as an answer as to whether or not to send his 'adopted daughter' to school. After all of that, he finally made time to revive Chara, which cause many more emotionally intense moments for the Dreemurrs. Gaster took a deep breath as he climbed the stairs to the room Rindie… no, Verdana, was getting ready for school.

He would have rushed her a bit more this morning, since they did miss the bus, but he didn't since it was both her first day and the fact that he could just teleport her there. He knocked on her bedroom door.

"Y-yes?" She called at his knocking.

 ** _"_** ** _Mind if I come in?"_** He asked, not wishing to be rude as she sipped more of his morning coffee.

"O-of course, Da- _Dr._ Gaster," She said. Verdana seemed to be skating around calling him 'daddy', or anything like that, almost like she was afraid to. Gaster smiled gently anyway as he opened the door slowly and stepping inside her room, which wa a guest room up until last weekend. He turned and looked at Verdana, standing in the center of the room.

She had a yellow jacket, a light one, over a blue sweater with yellow stripes, a yellow skirt over blue shorts covering her lower half, with a yellow and a blue boot.

Gaster smiled, **_"You look lovely."_**

Verdana blushed a slightly off green, combination of her yellow and blue magic, hiding a little in her jacket. "N-no I don't…" She mumbled, looking away. Gaster chuckled softly for a moment.

 ** _"_** ** _Are you ready for some breakfast? Papyrus should be finishing up his non-spaghetti flavored pancakes."_** Gaster asked.

Verdana simply timidly nodded, looking at the ground as she came forwards to go downstairs. Gaster stepped out of the way and followed right behind her as they approached the dining table. Not-so-quiet humming could be heard from the kitchen nearby, as Papyrus finished up the pancakes.

After a moment, when both were seated at the table, Papyrus turned around with a smile. Over his chest was a white apron that used to say 'Kiss the Cook', but the word 'kiss' was crossed out in red marker and replaced with 'hug'. Still smiling, he greeted his father and adopted sister.

"GOOD MORNING DAD. MORNING SIS. HOW ARE YOU ALL DOING TODAY?" He asked at his normal tone of voice.

"G-good," Verdana said, giving him a quick hug before taking a seat at the table. Gaster smiled, seeing that, before getting himself up from his seat and refilling his coffee mug.

 ** _"_** ** _I'm great Papyrus… Hey Papyrus, where's your brother?"_** The pupils in Papyrus' eyes rolled at the mention of Sans. He let out a soft sigh.

"LAST I CHECKED, HE WAS STILL NAPPING IN HIS ROOM. I TRIED FOUR TIMES TO GET HIM UP. HONESTLY, HE NEEDS TO STOP NAPPING SO MUCH! HE'S MUCH TOO LAZY AS IT IS."

Gaster smiled, **_"Papyrus, we've been over this. It's called sleep, and most humans try to spend at least eight hours doing so."_**

"D-did you try cold water?" Verdana suggested to the tall skeleton. Looking at Papyrus, both Gaster and Verdana could make out a quick glimmer of regret and fear flashed in his eye sockets for a moment.

"NOPE, NEVER AGAIN!" He turned back to collect the pancakes for breakfast, "I TRIED THAT ONCE AFTER UNDYNE RECOMMENDED IT AFTER ONE OF SANS' 'SLEEPS'… DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?" Gaster sighed at the way Papyrus used the word 'sleep'.

"W-what?" Verdana asked.

Papyrus turned back around and put the large stack of pancakes in the center of the table before finishing his story. "THE WATER WAS IN THE AIR, HEADING TOWARDS SANS, WHEN SUDDENLY…" On cue, Sans appeared out of thin air in another seat beside Gaster. Papyrus let out a quick shriek of terror and anger, "THAT! HE DID THAT! HE PRANKED ME THROUGH TIME AND SPACE, PUTTING ME UNDERNEATH THE WATER AND GETTING ME ALL WET!" He exclaimed.

Sans, sitting there, shrugged, _"sounds like water under the bridge to me."_ He said with his large smile never wavering. Verdana blinked, tilting her head. She wanted to know how to do that.

Papyrus did a facepalm as he sighed, "NOT WITH THE JOKES THIS EARLY!" He begged.

Sans kept his smile up, _"dam, i sea that you're not appreciating my jokes."_ Gaster suppressed a laugh for Papyrus' sake.

"Sans," Verdana said, giving him a narrowed eye look.

Sans let out a sigh, _"alright kiddo, i'll stop… for now…"_ Papyrus frowned, "WHY DON'T YOU STOP WHEN I ASK?" Sans shrugged before starting on his bottle of ketchup.

Papyrus shook his head, "ANYWAY, BREAKFAST IS SERVED!" He exclaimed with a smile back on his face.

"I thought it was pancakes?" Verdana asked innocently, tilting her head. Papyrus nodded, "OF COURSE IT'S PANCAKES, I THOUGHT I ALREADY TOLD Y-... WAIT YOU'RE NOT TRYING TO BE LIKE SANS, ARE YOU?!" He asked as he placed some pancakes on each of their plates and handed Verdana a bottle maple syrup. Sans just squeezed some ketchup onto his pancakes before eating them.

Verdana just looked confused for a second, before starting to cut her pancakes. Papyrus sighed and smiled, content with the confused look as an answer, before he began to eat some of his own pancakes. Gaster looked to Papyrus, **_"Great job on the pancakes Papyrus!"_**

Papyrus sat up a bit straighter and smiled, "NYEH HEH HEH, OF COURSE THEY'RE GREAT. THE GREAT PAPYRUS MADE THEM!"

Her own prepped now, Verdana put syrup on them, starting to eat, humming happily at the taste. "Bestest," She said after swallowing.

Papyrus beamed, "WOWIE, ANOTHER GENUINE COMPLIMENT!" After a few moments, Sans finished his plate of ketchup-covered pancakes and stood up.

 _"_ _welp, guess it's time to go to the lab. my chair's not gonna slack off by itself."_ Papyrus rolled his eye sockets while Gaster sent him a glare.

 ** _"_** ** _Sans…"_** Sans let out a quick chuckle and sighed.

 _"_ _just kiddin' dad, i'll start looking over the data. cya there."_ He said as he vanished into thin air before anyone could say anything else. Gaster then turned to Verdana to see if she was done eating. He knew school would be starting fairly soon.

Luckily she was, somehow having gathered both Sans', Gaster's, and her own plates and started washing them without either still present skeleton noticing. Gaster got up and shook his head, **_"No, no, let me take care of this."_** He said as he approached the counter.

"O-okay," She said, stepping away, instead going to get her school stuff. As Gaster finished up the dishes, Papyrus came over and insisted that he allow him to finish the dishes. Gaster eventually took a step back as his son finished everything else, smiling silently behind him. After a moment, he turned around and approached the staircase.

He shouted upstairs, **_"Verdana, are you ready?"_**

"Yeah!" She shouted, hurrying down, a schoolbag that matched the rest of her ensemble on her back. As she rushed down the steps, she tripped, sockets widening as she started falling. Gaster reacted quickly, turning her soul a dark blue as she began to now float in the air, a few inches from the stairs.

 ** _"_** ** _Are you alright?"_** He quickly asked. Verdana simply nodded, shaking a bit, a little startled from tripping. He slowly brought her back down to the ground next to him, her immediately clutching onto him. He smiled a bit and chuckled, **_"Now, if you're ready for school, shall we be off?"_** He asked, one arm around her small body.

Verdana nodded, clutching tighter. He wrapped his other arm around her body as he whispered, **_"Hold on tight. It'll only take a moment."_** Now, holding Verdana closely, he melted his own form and hers into the shadows, propelling them towards the school.

* * *

They suddenly reappeared under a tree in front of the school, the shade of the leaves hiding their sudden appearance. He looked down at Verdana, who was still holding him tightly, **_"Here we are. Your first day of school. Are… are you nervous?"_** He finally asked.

"T-terrified," She whispered. He nodded, still holding her, himself.

 ** _"_** ** _It's alright. You've met Alex, Frisk, Chara, and Asriel, right? They'll be here to help. And you'll be fine, I promise."_** He reassured her.

"O-okay…" Verdana said, hesitantly letting go. Gaster handed her a small black phone,

 ** _"_** ** _Here. I know you're not supposed to have these during school, but…"_** He smiled at her gently, **_"If you have any problems give me a call… between classes I mean."_** He chuckled quietly, **_"No need to step out and miss some important information."_**

Verdana nodded, taking it and putting it in her inventory. "B-bye da-dr-daddy," She said, stumbling over her words for a second.

His smile grew larger, bigger than it's been these past few days, **_"N-no problem Verdana. Have a good day."_** Gaster took a few steps backwards and smiled towards her as he melted back into the shadow, likely reappearing at his lab on the other side of town.

Verdana looked around nervously, before heading inside the schoolhouse. She walked down the student-filled hallway before finally arriving at her homeroom, Mister Sower's classroom. After looking around the room for a moment, she recognized a few faces, mainly the Dreemurrs, although she didn't know them too well.

She took a seat in the back in a corner where she could tell not many people, if any, sat around. After just a few moments, the bell rang and the remaining students filed into the room and took their seats. Mister Sower stood up from his desk, wearing a navy blue polo shirt and black pants. He stood in the front for a moment in silence as everyone began to quiet down.

"Good morning class," He began with a gentle, friendly smile. "I know we've only started school a few weeks back, but today we have two new students." He looked around the room a moment and made eye contact with Chara and then with Verdana. Verdana lowered her head a little, hiding in her jacket nervously.

"If you would like to introduce yourself, feel free to do so, if not…" He looked at Verdana with a small amount of pity in his eyes, "There's no need to do anything you're uncomfortable with." He added. For a moment, the classroom was silent. That is, until Chara stood up from her seat. She was wearing a green shirt with brown shorts, and since she was near the front, turned around to the rest of the class.

Her rosey cheeks got slightly redder in embarrassment as she spoke, "Gr-Greetings, I'm Ch-Chara Dreemurr." She finally said after a moment. She tried to put on a friendly smile, but it was only partially successful. For a moment, a small snicker could be heard coming from Frisk due to Chara's stuttering. However, it was immediately stopped when Chara suddenly stomped on the ground, likely on her foot. Another snicker followed from Asriel, this time toward Frisk. A few other students quietly laughed at that as well.

Verdana started to get a little encouraged, though didn't stand yet, waiting. After a moment or two longer, the teacher spoke, "Thank you Chara. Please, take a seat." She turned back towards the teacher and gave him an innocent smile as she sat back down. He raised an eyebrow for a second before quickly lowering it and looked toward the back of the room.

Verdana stood then shyly, squirming a little. Mister Sower smiled gently towards Verdana, silently allowing her to introduce herself to the class. "H-hello, I'm Verdana Serif," She said, somehow managing to stutter less than Chara. The class looked at her for a moment before the teacher cleared his throat to bring attention back to himself. He sent a reassuring smile back at Verdana, before he spoke again.

"Thank you Verdana. And class, I'm sure you've all been taught that it's impolite to stare. She's a monster, but so are many others here." No one spoke for a moment before he continued, smiling at her again, "Please, take a seat." He asked calmly as he walked back over to his desk and computer for a moment.

Verdana sat at her seat, looking at the front attentively. The teacher grabbed a sheet of paper and began reading off names, checking the attendance for a minute or two before he finished.

"Now, I'm supposed to do announcements so… let's see here." The teacher said as he scrolled down some sort of document on the computer. "Ahh right…" He turned back to the class and stood up in the front for everyone to see. He looked down to a paper in his hand as he began to read it in a bored kind of tone.

"Due to the barrier breaking, and the inclusion of monsters in the education system, and blah blah blah…" He stopped for a moment and looked to the class before a smile appeared on his face. He resumed with a much happier tone, "Next Saturday will be a School Dance."

Several students looked to each other talking and murmuring excitedly. Mister Sower cleared his throat again, "Alright, alright, quiet down. Before you all start freaking out about your 'dates' and whatnot, I have a lesson to teach." Everyone quieted down as he began to go through the lesson of the day.

* * *

The familiar loud noise had just gone off on all the bells as the final class before lunch had now ended. Students scurried around the halls, running around with their lunches as they went out to their tables to eat and hang out with their friends before the second half of the school day started.

Verdana took her own bagged lunch, going out with the others. Finding a empty spot, she sat there, hoping the spot at least semi concealed her. The afternoon was overcast, preventing the sun from beating down and overheating any of the students. The Dreemurrs sat a few tables away from Verdana with a few other monsters with them. In the distance, on a farther away table sat Mister Sower, making sure nothing bad occurred during lunch. Most of the other tables were filled to the brim with other students.

A student got Mr Sowers attention, leading him off somewhere. Verdana got a little nervous at this, starting to eat her lunch, some milk, preserved with magic, a sandwich and an apple. After just a few moments a group of three older kids came over to the young skeleton sitting alone in the corner. At first, Verdana tried to ignore them and not make eye contact, but it didn't really matter what she did.

The leader, Joseph, took a step forward, now inches from the skeleton monster. Suddenly, he laughed a little. "Wow, I've seen the other skeleton monsters, but you… you really are the ugliest one. That weird tail? Are you sure you're not a skeleton rat or something?" He mocked.

Verdana let a little whimper escape her, trying to just keep eating. One of the kids behind the ringleader spoke quietly, "Are you sure a-about this? What if the teacher comes back?"

He spun around and looked at the one who spoke with hate in his eyes, "Really, you're that afraid of him?" He pointed behind himself toward Verdana, "It's those THINGS that you should be afraid of!" He said, shouting a bit but trying to remain quiet enough so as not to get anyone's attention. He turned back around to the monster.

"You know, life was simpler before we had another race of things to take care of! Now we have to worry about monstrosities like you!" He couldn't help it as he got louder. Verdana started tearing up, spectral green tears in her eye-sockets.

The other one who spoke earlier before tried again, "Jos-" The leader spun around in an instant. "Shut the hell up! If you're that afraid of the teacher, then go!" He turned back to the monster. "Why don't you crawl back under the mountain that you came from! It'd make like so much better for us!" He continued, not caring at all about the 'thing' in front of him as he was now shouting, beginning to get a few students' attention.

Verdana was openly crying now, but too timid to get up and leave. Joseph smiled and grabbed a small stick off the ground. "You know, I heard that a monster could be killed with almost anything, as long as the attacker had the intent to kill... that's what my dad told me. Did you know that?" He asked rhetorically.

Verdanas sockets widened, before she got up, trying to run away quickly. He reached out and grabbed her wrist quickly, shouting fully now, "Did I say I was done, rat?!"

Verdana whimpered, trembling greatly but readying her SOUL. She could maybe take a hit. He swung the stick at her tail, it bounced off, but not without damaging Verdana. The kid cruelly smiled a bit, "Guess I'm not strong enough for one? Maybe a second? This'll teach you all!" Both kids that accompanied him now ran off, not wishing to be a part of this anymore.

Verdana was openly sobbing now, pain flaring through her mind. Another hit would kill her. He pulled the stick back, hesitating on dealing another blow for only a split second before he swung again. However, the stick didn't budge. He was unable to move it an inch. In fact, it suddenly left his hand and was swung against his own legs, hard, knocking him down.

On his back, he turned around to see Chara standing there holding the stick firmly for a moment before snapping it in half with little effort. Her own eyes were glowing a bright red as her angry expression conveyed exactly how she was feeling at this moment.

"You know… I've seen a lot of cruel people… but this… this is quite horrid." She spoke slowly and menacingly. Her eyes now turned pitch black as a weird liquidy, tar-like substance began to ooze out of her eyes. Joseph, still on the ground, was trying to sink further away from her in fear.

"It's humans… like you… that don't deserve ANY mercy…" She looked down on him with no pity. She closed her eyes for a moment and as they reopened, the tar disappeared and her eyes were red once more, but that didn't calm the kid down at all. It was as if fear and panic, itself, had seized his soul as he lay there on the ground. Chara turned away and took a few steps towards Verdana, who was still on the ground crying, and extended a hand towards her and rubbed her back slowly.

"Are you ok, Verdana?" She asked quietly, with no hint of malice or anger in her voice towards the young monster. Verdana was hyperventilating, flinching away from the voice. She wasn't really coherent too much at the moment. That hit had brought her down to one hp.

Chara turned and scowled at Joseph, who had been still staring at her in fear. She spoke towards him with pure malice, "If you EVER even think about doing anything like this to another monster… well… let's just say this is the only time I'll show someone like YOU mercy." The kid quickly nodded in fear.

Just then, Frisk and Alex came rushing over with Mr. Sower following close behind, being led by the two students. His eye's widened in fear and anger when he saw the scene. He saw Chara caring for an injured and hyperventilating Verdana, and Joseph cradled into a ball on the ground in fear.

He reached down without hesitation, picking up and holding Verdana in his arms gently. He rocked her back and forth for a moment, trying to calm her down. He looked down to Frisk, "Frisk, would you please do me a favor and inform your mother that there was an incident during lunch." Frisk nodded and ran off back inside.

Verdana was struggling in the teachers hold, whimpering and sobbing. After a moment or so, the teacher put her down back on the bench by the table as Toriel came out with Frisk. She was wearing a long dark blue dress. He spoke to her, "Mrs. Dreemurr, would you be so kind as to bring this little girl to the infirmary? I know you can be quite good with monster children." She nodded and smiled at her colleague before she turned to Verdana.

"Verdana, is it? Little one, are you alright?" She asked in her soothing, mother-like tone. This managed to calm her slightly, Verdana looking to see her blurry, to Verdana anyway, form and whimpering. "It's alright, my child. I'll take care of you." She put a reassuring hand on the young monster's shoulder.

Verdana flinched a little, whimpering as tears kept streaming. Nevertheless, Toriel kept smiling at the afraid child. Beside her, she heard Chara, Frisk, and Alex all explain to Mister Sower about what had happened. Shortly thereafter, the teacher took Joseph back up to the Principal's Office and asked Chara to come to explain the story again, which she did. After another moment, Toriel turned back to Verdana.

"If it is alright with you, I'm going to take you to the Infirmary. Is that alright, my child?" She asked softly. Her mind coherent enough to understand Toriel, she nodded a little, whimpering in pain. Toriel smiled and picked her up slowly, sending her healing magic into the young monster as she carried her. It wouldn't fully heal Verdana, but it would numb the pain while she carried her. She carried the young monster inside and straight to the Infirmary, laying the young skeleton on one of the two provided beds.

* * *

After sitting beside Verdana for a few moments, the bell rang, indicating the end of lunch. "M-ms Toriel?" Verdana called, sounding a little weak.

She turned and smiled gently, "Yes, my child?"

"C-can… you call… my daddy?" She questioned.

Toriel nodded, "Of course. I'll let him know what happened." She stepped away for a moment before returning after the quick phone call. She still had a friendly smile on her face.

"Dr. Gaster will be here to pick you up shortly." She rubbed her chin for a moment, "It's a shame, I guess I won't see you in class until tomorrow?" She said as she laughed quietly to herself for a moment.

Verdana said nothing, squirming a little in bed. She wasn't sure she wanted to go back here, she almost _died_ on the first day…

Toriel looked a bit sad for a moment, "It's a shame your first day had to go like this. I'm just glad Chara showed up to help you…" She looked down at the young skeleton and put an arm around her, "I'm sorry about today." She finally said. She looked at the clock right as the bell rang again.

Verdana wondered what was taking her daddy so long…

Toriel stood up and turned back to Verdana, "I'm sorry, but I must get back to my class. I hope you feel better, young one." She said as she walked out of the room and back towards her own classroom. After a moment alone, Mr. Sower walked in.

"Hello Verdana. Are you feeling any better?" He asked as he stood a few feet in front of her, not wanting to get too close and make her feel uncomfortable.

She shook her head. Toriel's magic had made her numb, but she knew when it wore off, she'd go back to pain. His expression turned a bit more depressed, "I'm so, so sorry about what happened. I knew I shouldn't have walked off like that with the other kid." He said as he drooped his head a bit. "Anyway… I wanted to let you know how I felt and… I wanted to let you know that Joseph won't be a problem anymore."

Verdana look at him, confused. The teacher elaborated, "This was his second outburst against monsters. In fact, last time it was against the Dreemurrs. Anyway, he was expelled for doing it again. Actually, he's quite lucky that's ALL that's happening to him."

On cue, Gaster came running through the doorway, his lab coat now adorned with new burn holes peppered all across it, revealing his favorite black clothing beneath it, which happened to also have some burn holes. He was out of breath when he entered the room. **_"Ver… Verdana… Are you al-... alright?"_** He stammered out.

Verdana simply reached for him. He smiled in relief as he approached her and sat beside her for a moment, reaching out and holding her in a comforting, gentle embrace. **_"I'm so glad you're ok!"_** He said, finally catching his breath. **_"I'm so sorry I took so long…"_** He motioned towards his clothing, **_"Things in the lab weren't going quite as planned."_** He said with a weak smile.

"H-here… wasn't good… either…" Verdana said, whimpering a bit as the numbness started wearing off. He picked her up gently, still trying to manage his smile.

 ** _"_** ** _It's ok. I have some stuff back in the lab that can help with this."_** He turned to get ready to leave when the teacher cleared his throat, getting both skeleton's attention. Gaster turned toward him. **_"You are… Mister Jordan Sower, correct?"_**

The teacher nodded, "Yes sir, Doctor Gaster. First, I'd like to apologize about the incident. The whole thing was my fault. I was supposed to be watching the students, but was distracted as it all happened."

Gaster frowned for a moment and looked down at the injured skeleton in his arms. He sighed, **_"It's not your fault. From what I was told on the phone, you came in to help as soon as you could, and I appreciate the support. As I'm sure Verdana did…"_**

The teacher smiled weakly and nodded before looking at Verdana, "Verdana, about today… when, or if, you come back, please know you can always talk to me. I'm here if you need anything, alright?" He asked slowly.

The little skeletal girl simply nodded, curling into her father's hold. Gaster nodded at Mister Sower as well, **_"Thank you…"_** He turned back toward the little girl in his arms before they both melted into the shadows, disappearing from the school. The teacher stood there for a moment longer, staring at the spot in which the skeletons had previously stood. He shook his head for a moment, "I'm never going to get used to it." He said as he walked back to his classroom.

* * *

Gaster re-materialized in a different room of his lab. This one, although keeping with the grey tiles and white wall theme of the rest of the lab, contained a bed and some magical medical supplies. He quickly placed the little skeleton on the bed as he grabbed a few things from the counter. **_"How are you holding up over there, Verdana?"_** He asked over his shoulder as he looked for the specific supplies he needed.

"O-one HP." She told him. She didn't want to say so earlier, mostly because she figured Toriel could tell. His eye-sockets widened for a moment before he went back to searching, a bit faster now. After a moment longer, he found was he was looking for and approached the little girl. He was holding a syringe with a glowing pink liquid inside of it.

 ** _"_** ** _This is a prototype substance I've been working on. It contains a small enough dose of Determination so as not to cause melting. The stabilizers in here should also help keep the substance stable. Finally, Alphys' healing concoction is mixed in as well to accelerate the healing process… but…"_** He looked down at her with worry and fear in his eye-sockets.

 ** _"_** ** _It- It may hurt…"_** He finally added.

"O-okay… i t-trust you, d-daddy," She said, smiling a little up at him. He smiled a bit as he took another step forward. **_"Toriel told me you were struck. Where?"_** He asked quietly.

In response, Verdana rolled onto her front, bringing her tail up to point back at itself where she was struck. He frowned as he looked at it, a large gash along the center on her tail with cracks forming around it. He tenderly held the tail as he pressed the syringe against the spot she was struck, but didn't inject it yet. **_"Are… are you ready?"_** He finally asked nervously.

She nodded, eye sockets closed. He finally pressed it fully down, the tip sinking partially into the bone as he injected the entire contents on the syringe. The moment it all entered, he quickly removed the tip as he felt her bones heating up quickly to a very uncomfortable temperature. He wanted to take a step back, but stopped himself. Instead holding her tail gently and reaching out to hold one of her hands to comfort her.

She sobbed and squirmed in pain. While one eye, her left, leaked fresh green, the right was leaking Red, purple, and little bits of orange and light blue. Gaster held her hand as he felt the heat increase. Looking at her tail, he saw the cracks and holes immediately close, the bone fusing together at a horribly fast rate as it forced itself back together.

She screeched in pain now, the tears falling faster. Finally after a moment, the bones stopped, leaving a perfect tail behind with no sign of previous cracks. However, the heat stayed behind as it began to increase in Verdana's chest as the substance began to mend and fix her injured soul. After a few more moments of horrible pain, the heat died down and her bones slowly returned to their normal, cool temperature.

The tears also stopped, her panting, limp on the bed. Gaster looked at her in worry as he took a step back, looking at her sleeping form. Then, he noticed their were tears coming down his own face as well. He wiped them away as he spoke softly, **_"Rest, Verdana. Sleep well."_** After standing there a moment longer, he turned around and walked toward the door to re-enter the main lab. He smiled as he exited the room to resume his work while he waited for her to recover.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _So, here we are with another Chapter. Now… here's what I really want to say…_**

 ** _Thank you! Everyone reading my stuff. Thank you for reading them, favoriting them, following them, and reviewing them. This story has received over 1000 views while both stories have received over a total of 8000 views, and for that, I thank you… because that means there's at least something not too bad about them._**

 ** _Honestly, I was just mowing my lawn one day, spending the time daydreaming (That's just who I am. Deal with it!) when I thought of the original idea of PureTale. Being the person I am, I decided to further the idea in my head, expanding on it and forming a story. I'm not super dedicated to these kinda things, but I decided against my better judgement to post my idea, and… some of you actually liked it. I never expected this whole experience to be more than just me posting it and it sitting somewhere on the internet._**

 ** _It has been a long time since I last bothered to write something just for the fun of it, for no other purpose than to tell a story. And, I was really glad to find people to read and enjoy it. Seriously, thank you all so much for just spending some of your free time reading my dumb little stories._**

 ** _That being said, I'm still going. Got a lot more planned before I even think of stopping, so look forward to it… maybe… Anyway, if you like this, let me know by at least viewing my work. If you're feeling generous, favorite, follow, or review it, but no pressure. Ok, my message is over now… not that many of you read these._**

 ** _Stay Pure. Stay Determined. I hope you have enjoyed the ride thus far. And I hope you buckle up, 'cause more's on its way!_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**

 ** _P.S._** ** _Rezaraga's a cool person who's helped me out quite a bit with their OP OC._**

 ** _P.S.S._** ** _I still have room for suggestions. If you have an idea for something you'd like to see in the story, feel free to let me know!_**

 ** _Last Note for real:_** ** _Verdana being an OC, I've decided that I'll likely add another OC that, at least, plays a minor role, preferably a human. That said, if you've got an idea about a possible OC to appear, their backstory, their appearance, their personality, etc. let me know in a PM or review. I'll let you know if I choose yours. Maybe, If I get quite a few and like several, I'll add several… who knows?!_**


	11. Daddy, how does magic work?

Alex sat there beside Chara, Frisk, Asriel, and MK with his sister, enjoying lunch. It was Chara's first day back since she got her own body, and the day was going fairly well. Although still uncomfortable around groups of humans, she was doing better now, especially in the presence of her amazing siblings. Not to brag, or anything.

"Yo, it's so nice to meet you Chara!" MK said with a wide grin, bouncing up and down in place for a moment. Everyone else at the table was grinning as they continued to converse while enjoying their lunches. Chara, however, stopped after a few moments and just sat still, as if listening to something far away.

Alex wanted to ask her what's wrong. Maybe she was thinking about her first day? Before he could ask, they all hear shouting and crying in the distance, just a few tables away.

"Guess I'm not strong enough for one? Maybe a second?" He heard an eerily familiar voice say. Alex turned toward Chara to see her gone. Looking back toward the commotion, he saw Chara approaching quickly, taking the stick the kid, Joseph, was holding and smack him to the ground with it. Alex turned back towards Frisk as they both thought the same thing and ran to find the teacher.

After a moment, they found Mister Sower, approaching his table from what appeared to be a talk with another student. Frisk shouted in fear, "M-Mister Sower, the b-bullies are back, a-and they're hurting another m-monster!"

Without a moment's hesitation, the teacher took off towards the tables, quickly finding Joseph, Chara, and the new monster Verdana on the ground in the back. He approached quickly, surveying the scene before him before slowly and gently picking up Verdana and trying to comfort her. He turned back to Frisk, "Frisk, would you please do me a favor and inform your mother that there was an incident during lunch."

Alex looked to Frisk as she ran off to get their mom. The teacher took that time to try to comfort the young monster, which Alex hold only met for a short while several days ago. While they waited for a moment, Alex walked over and checked on Chara, "A-are you alright Chara?" He asked.

She shook her her head for a moment before looking up at Alex, "No… not really. I… I really hate bullies. If not for you and Frisk, I might have…" Alex put a reassuring hand on her shoulder and smiled gently at her. She smiled back weakly, thankful for the gesture as Frisk returned with mom.

The teacher smiled in relief upon seeing here since his attempts to calm the frightened child were failing, "Mrs. Dreemurr, would you be so kind as to bring this little girl to the infirmary? I know you can be quite good with monster children." He politely asked.

Their mom, being the monster she was, smiled gently and nodded toward him as she turned her attention to the trembling skeleton. She spoke some reassuring words to the young monster, which seemed to work as she soon picked her up gently and took the monster to the Infirmary. Alex really hoped she'd be ok and that mom would do a good job.

As she began to walk away, Alex and his siblings explained the full story to Mister Sower as the suspect still sat on the ground in a ball in fear. Afterwards, Chara accompanied the kind teacher and Joseph to see the Principal to explain what happened.

The last few minutes at the lunch table were in silence after what happened. Everyone sitting there was too uncomfortable to go back to their earlier conversations. Finally, the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch, and everyone flowed back into the school to get to their next class. Luckily, before their next class began, Chara rejoined them and told them about the bully's expulsion. Though they deserved it, Alex couldn't help but feel at least a little bad for him.

* * *

The rest of the school day went without incident. The final bell rang as the four Dreemurrs rushed outside to Papyrus' car, anxious to see the skeletons and see how the younger one was doing after the incident at lunch. As they approached the beautiful red car, Papyrus waved wildly to them.

"HELLO EVERYONE! WAS SCHOOL GOOD?! CHARA, HOW WAS YOUR DAY?!" He asked quickly, barely taking time to take a breath.

Asriel spoke, "Yeah, we had a good day." Chara nodded in agreement with a smile.

Frisk, the pacifist, spoke up right after, "H-how's Verdana?" She asked quietly.

Papyrus rubbed his chin, "SHE SHOULD BE RESTING. DAD DID SAY SOMETHING HAPPENED THAT MADE HER COME HOME EARLY, BUT DIDN'T ELABORATE." Then, Papyrus gasped dramatically for a moment, both hands on his head, "SHE DIDN'T GET IN TROUBLE, DID SHE?"

Alex smiled reassuringly, "No, Papyrus, not like that. But some kids were mean to her during lunch."

Papyrus hummed aloud in thought, "PERHAPS THEY WISHED TO TRY SOME OF HER LUNCH? AFTER ALL, MY CUISINE IS QUITE CAPTIVATING! NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus said with a wide smile. "I'M SURE IT WAS ALL A BIG MISUNDERSTANDING!"

"Maybe…" Alex said quietly, not really thinking that Papyrus was understanding what they were trying to say. "So, shall we head home?"

Papyrus gasped, "O-OF COURSE. SILLY ME, I ALMOST FORGOT! COME ON CHILDREN, LET'S GO!" He said as he ran back over to his seat and motioned for everyone else to climb in.

They all did as he told and climbed into the car. They each buckled their seatbelts as Papyrus started up the car. "ALRIGHT, LET'S GO!" He exclaimed as he began to hastily speed out of the parking lot and toward his house. Luckily, as fast as Papyrus drives, he does manage to avoid breaking the law.

* * *

Papyrus pulled up into his house's driveway and promptly parked the car. He led them all inside quickly, wanting to check on Verdana again since it had been a good twenty minutes since he last checked. The kids came inside and sat on the couch for a moment, waiting for Papyrus to return after immediately running up the stairs to check on Verdana. After waiting there for a moment, He came back downstairs with relief on his face.

"SHE'S DOING FINE. IN FACT, SHE'S FINALLY AWAKE. SO AWAKE, SHE REQUESTED SOME OF MY FABULOUS PASTA! NYEH HEH HEH!" He exclaimed as he dashed off to the kitchen to prepare a fresh batch of spaghetti. As he got the ingredients together, he looked over his shoulder and spoke, "YOU CAN GO UP THERE, BUT YOU SHOULD GO ONLY TWO AT A TIME SO AS NOT TO OVERWHELM HER!" He said before anyone of them could try to get off the couch.

After a small discussion, they decided Alex and Chara would go together and Asriel would go with Frisk. The latter going first. After those two climbed the stairs and disappeared into Verdana's room, the Chara and Alex sat in silence for a moment on the couch.

Breaking the silence, Chara turned toward Alex. She spoke innocently, "So, the school dance coming up…" She started.

Alex turned his head to the left to look into Chara's eyes, "Yeah, what about it?"

"You excited for it? I mean, you're quite a good dancer after everything I've seen and heard." Chara asked.

Alex gave a soft shrug and smirked, "I don't know, I'd rather not show everyone up." He said. They two of them laughed a bit for a moment before it returned to silence. After a moment, Chara, trying to maintain an innocent tone, spoke again.

"So… you gonna ask Frisk?" She asked.

Alex froze in place, eyes widening. He sat there as he fought the blush that continued to form on his face. He tried to formulate an intelligent response, to no success, "I- uh, well I don't- ummm."

Chara sat back on the couch and began to laugh as Alex's blush only got deeper. "Sh-shut up, I don't feel that way about her!" He quickly added, trying desperately to recover.

Chara laughed a bit more before wiping a tear from her eye, "You're so obvious, you know that?!"

Alex immediately denied it, "N-no. I have no i-idea what you m-mean!" He tried to play ignorant.

Papyrus suddenly turned around for a moment, looking directly at Alex, "ALEX, C'MON. IT'S SO OBVIOUS!" Alex just buried his face into his hands in defeat as the blush appeared on his face at full force.

Chara couldn't help but laugh even harder at this. She turned toward Papyrus for a moment before looking back at Alex, "Man, if PAPYRUS, of all people, figured it out… you're so screwed!" Alex was unable to come up with a response as he kept his face attached to his hands. Chara laughed for a moment longer before the room returned to silence.

After a few moments, they heard the door upstairs creak open as Frisk and Asriel left the room Verdana was in and closed it behind them. On cue, Chara and Alex got up to walk toward the stairs. Alex's blushed was finally fading as they climbed past Frisk, desperately hoping that she both didn't hear anything through the door AND didn't see his blush.

Finally, they reached Verdana's door, opened it slowly, and walked in. Chara closed the door behind them as they looked forward, seeing the young skeleton monster lying on the bed under the sheets before them. Alex was about to speak, but Chara cut him off.

"Hey Verdana, are you feeling any better?" She asked softly. Softer than Alex normally hears her speak.

"Yeah… I h-h-have a w-whopping t-three more HP t-then when…" Verdana trailed off. Chara approached slowly and put an arm around the skeleton.

"It's alright, at least you're not in danger anymore." She said with a reassuring smile. She frowned a bit, "I'm… I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. I thought I heard something, but… I waited too long…" She said as she let some of her hair block her red eyes from view in shame.

"I-it's okay," Verdana said, looking down. Alex walked over beside Chara and put one of his own hands on her shoulder, trying to comfort his sister.

Alex looked over to Verdana, "Hey, um, Verdana… are you going to be at school tomorrow?" He asked. Chara quickly looked up and shot a look to Alex, as if telling them that now might not be the time to worry about that. Alex flinched a bit, "S-sorry…"

"I-i-i-i d-d-dun-dunno…" Verdana said, eye-lights looking away, shrinking in on herself.

Alex smiled a bit and looked back at Verdana, "W-well regardless, I'm sure Frisk or Asriel might have already said this but… would you like to, maybe, be friends with us?" He finally asked. Luckily, Chara didn't seem to disagree with Alex and actually relaxed a bit.

Verdana nodded a little, yawning. Seemed the conversations were tiring the poor little skeleton out. Chara smiled and stood back up beside Alex, "Well, we'll let you rest them. I'm sure Papyrus will be up soon with your 'requested pasta'." She said.

Alex smiled too, "I hope you feel better soon, and… I hope to see you again at school. We'll make sure no one else even thinks about being mean!" He said, peering to Chara for a response, to which he received a confident nod.

"Okay…" Verdana mumbled, before falling asleep, little cute snores escaping her. Both siblings smiled warmly toward her as they made their way back out of the room and down the stairs.

Looking towards the couch, Alex saw a familiar scene before him. Frisk, for just a moment, had a large blush across her face as Asriel was smiling a bit. As the pair walked down the stairs, he could hear Chara whisper into his ear, "You'd be so cute together!"

Alex immediately ran back up the stairs and ran into the bathroom for a few minutes to try to hide the blush that had begun to reemerge on his face. He sighed in realization. If Chara and Asriel were working together on this, did that mean Frisk ACTUALLY liked him back? He couldn't think straight and decided to sit there for another few minutes, washing his face and trying to remove the blush before he left.

The rest of the evening went by without incident. Papyrus brought some of his famous spaghetti up for Verdana to enjoy, and soon thereafter, Toriel arrived to pick up her children to bring them home. The next morning, it was time to return to school, and all of the Dreemurrs were hoping to see Verdana again, this time not allowing ANYONE to do anything to her!

* * *

They all arrived at Mister Sower's homeroom once more and were delighted to see Verdana walk into the classroom, although a bit disappointed that she went towards the back once more to sit alone, and seemed to be checking behind her every couple steps, as if she expected to be attacked again.

Chara stood up from her seat in between the 'lovebirds' and went back to the back of the room, stopping next to Verdana. "Hey, Verdana, mind if I sit next to you?" She asked nicely and quietly, so as not to bring attention to them.

"U-u-um, o-o-okay," Verdana said, seemed to be permanently half hidden by her jacket. Chara, despite Verdana's shy response, smiled gently and took a seat beside her. She looked forward for a moment and nodded toward Asriel, who was looking back at them. He smiled and began to put another part of their plan in motion.

Asriel bumped against Frisk sitting beside him, knocking her into Chara's old seat and her top half falling onto Alex's lap. From there, Chara knew they were both madly blushing, and let out a laugh beside Verdana. Chara, as her laughing began to die down again, turned toward Verdana, "What do you think about them?" She asked, a bit quieter this time so as to not let anyone else know what she was talking about.

"W-w-what d-do you mean?" Verdana whispered back, tilting her skull in confusion. Chara let out a smaller laugh this time, nodding over towards Frisk and Alex, who were still trying to recover from what just happened. She then let out and "oh" as she realized why Verdana was confused.

"Oh right, you've only just met us… But still, I'm sure you've noticed their crushes on each other." She finally said.

"Y-yeah? S-so?" The skeleton girl asked, sockets blinking.

"So? So, what do you think about them? You think they'd cute together?" She said, this time a bit louder, earning a glare from Alex a few rows up. Chara could still see the faint blush on his face from even this distance, earning another laugh out of her.

"I-i-i g-guess…" Verdana said, nervously looking away. Chara smiled still and let her laughter die down.

"Anyway, I'm glad you came back today!" She said, putting one of her hands on Verdana's shoulder. The little skeleton flinched at this, flinching so much it pushed her chair a bit away from Chara. Chara flinched herself a bit, "Sorry about that, guess I should've warned you."

"I-i-it's o-o-okay, I-i j-just… d-don't like b-being touched," Verdana told her.

Chara smiled weakly, "You know… I used to be scared like that too. Thinking anyone and everyone was out to get me…" She sighed, "I'm just saying… I know how you feel." She said as she tried to smile a bit to reassure her.

Verdanas sockets widened a bit in surprise, not having expected this. She turned, looking down at her desk, considering this new information. Just then, the next bell rang as the teacher stood up in the front of the classroom.

"Good morning everyone." He said with a smile, it growing a bit larger when her saw both Chara and Verdana sitting next to each other. "Before I take attendance, I have a quick reminder…" His smiled disappearing as he became serious. He took a deep breath before continuing.

"Yesterday, there was another incident of bullying and discrimination against monsters. It ended with both the unnamed victim being brutally attacked and the attacker being expelled." Several student began to murmur or gasp. "In case you all need yet another reminder, that will NOT be tolerated here. Everyone understand?" A collection of nods and yeses erupted from the students quickly.

The teacher looked back to Verdana and shot her a quick smile. She gave a small one back, appreciating that he didn't say her name. His smile stayed as he spoke again, "Now, why don't we begin with roll. Alright…"

* * *

Lunch finally began after the morning classes finished. As the students ran outside and gathered at their normal tables, the Dreemurrs did the same at their normal table with MK and his sister. Verdana sat at the same, off to the side, half hidden table as yesterday, looking around warily.

As the Dreemurrs and other monsters began unpacking and eating, Frisk turned around to where everything happened yesterday and saw Verdana all alone again. She turned back to the table, "Hey, should we go over to Verdana?"

MK widened his eyes when he looked over to the skeleton, "Yo, is that the one that was attacked by the bullies yesterday?" His sister nodded to her brother, answering his question, "Yo, we, like, totally should. She's all alone!"

Chara, Asriel, and Alex all gave their agreeance as they gathered their lunches back up and approached Verdana in the back, all alone. In the distance, Mister Sower was watching the whole thing carefully, but couldn't help the smile he was forming. After a moment, they all arrived at her table, with Alex speaking, "Hey Verdana, mind if we sit with you?" He asked softly.

Verdana jumped a bit in surprise despite the softness, looking to him, panicked for a second before she recognised them. "U-uh, s-s-sure," She said, turning back to her lunch, pulling out a homemade muffin… and homemade cookies… and… spaghetti? Papyrus went all out it seems.

Chara quickly took a seat beside Verdana with Asriel sitting beside her. MK and his sister sat together too, forcing Alex and Frisk to sit right next to each other with little space between them. Chara smirked, looking at Asriel smirking back. Plan successful, she thought. She then turned toward Verdana and put on a more friendly smile.

"Hey, you having a better day today?" She asked. Verdana nodded, holding a chocolate chip cookie out for Chara, having heard how much she liked chocolate. Chara's eyes widened and her mouth opened up slightly in surprise as she looked at the cookie in the skeleton's hands.

"R-really? For m-me?" She asked, stuttering a bit in surprise. Before she got a response, she heard a snicker from Asriel beside her, earning him a quick kick under the table.

"Y-yeah," Verdana stuttered shyly. Chara smiled widely as she slowly took the cookie and took a big bite out of it. Her face showing the joy she was feeling right now.

"Careful Verdana, she might follow you home now!" Alex added with a snicker. Chara would have tried to kick him under the table, but didn't want to accidentally hit Frisk.

"W-wouldn't I-i just be safer then?" Verdana asked, not getting the teasing, nibbling cutely on her own cookie.

Frisk joined in, "Yeah, but then she'd eat all your chocolate. And if you ran out, you'd be in for a bad time!" She said with a smile. Now, with no more quarrels against hitting Frisk, Chara kicked under the table and hit her in the leg. Frisk frowned and held her leg a bit, sticking her tongue out at Chara.

"Real mature, Frisk." She muttered, "You'd really do that with Alex right there?" She asked, teasing in response and getting a blush out of both of them. Verdana giggled a tiny bit, a small smile on her face as she held another cookie out to Chara. The teasing and jokes went on for the rest of lunch until the bell rang. They all returned to their classes as the rest of the day went by.

* * *

Now that the day was finally over, all the kids rushed outside to head home for the evening. The Dreemurrs ran over to Papyrus' red car, quickly climbing in, to head to Gaster's lab. Yesterday, he promised another day to practice magic, especially after Alex's first incident in the other timeline. As they climbed in and took off for the ride there, Verdana saw Gaster leaning against the same tree they arrived by, smiling warmly toward her.

Verdana smiled back at her adoptive daddy, going over and glomping him in a hug. He smiled and let out a chuckle, **_"Hey Verd, how was your day? Better than yesterday, I hope!"_** He said as he still held her tightly.

"A-a-a lot better, daddy," She assured him, resting the side of her skull on his leg.

He nodded, **_"Excellent."_** He paused for a moment until the hug ended and he knelt down to her eye level, **_"I was thinking, if you didn't have too much homework, that you could accompany me to the lab to learn some magic, if you wish."_**

"O-okay. I-i managed t-to finish it all i-in class, it w-wasn't hard at all," She told him, smiling a bit wider.

His smile still wide, **_"Perfect. That's my little girl."_** He was a little surprised he said that last part, but it didn't matter since he meant it. He held out his hand toward Verdana. She blushed a little, the left cheekbone green, the right the same assortment of colors she had cried yesterday, taking his hand. He smiled and held it tightly, but not too tightly. They quickly faded into the background, disappearing from under the tree.

After just a moment, they appeared in his lab just as Papyrus was pulling up in his car. Too bad Papyrus never learned about shortcuts, although he probably wouldn't use them anyway since he doesn't want to 'become lazy like his brother'. Gaster led Verdana to the main entrance and held it open as the others flooded into the lab.

"HELLO DAD!" Papyrus said cheerily, then he looked at Verdana, "HELLO SIS, DID YOU ENJOY MY LUNCH I MADE?"

Verdana nodded, smiling. "I-it was s-so good, I s-shared some, a-and the other k-kids liked it too," She told him.

"EXCELLENT! I'M GLAD YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS ENJOYED MY COOKING!" He said with a wide smile as he walked further into the lab, "SO, DAD, THE HUMANS ARE GOING TO LEARN MORE MAGIC?!"

Gaster nodded, **_"Yes."_** He motioned them all to follow him as he led them back down to the basement level where they could test their magic. He turned toward Frisk and Chara for a moment once they made it down.

 ** _"_** ** _I've been doing more research on Determination Souls, and I've learned a bit more of your magical potential. You remember your power to influence time, right?"_** He asked. Papyrus looked shocked as he looked around, seeing a similar confusion on Verdana's face.

"THEY CAN INFLUENCE TIME? THAT'S… THAT'S…" Gaster expected Papyrus to be very shocked and maybe upset, "THAT'S SO COOL! YOU SHOULD SHOW US!" Then, Gaster remembered that this was Papyrus.

Verdana looked at Gaster with a silent question, remembering he said something about injecting determination in her when he was fixing her up yesterday. Gaster smiled down at her and nodded before looking back at Papyrus, **_"Yes, I have learned that the one with the most Determination can rewind time by moments, day, months, or years even. However, it may be more complicated now that Frisk and Chara are now separate. But there's more!"_**

Chara and Frisk were paying close attention now. They could actually influence time beyond Resets and Loads? They were practically vibrating in place in excitement.

 ** _"_** ** _Theoretically, if you can control your Determination well enough, you should be able to both pause time temporarily and even rewind by a few moments without the use of 'Save Points'."_** He added.

Alex took a step forward, "T-then how come we've never been able to do that before?"

Gaster facepalmed, **_"Right, I forgot you can absorb it as well."_** He shook his head for a moment, **_"It seems like this ability is both very difficult to do and requires a lot of energy."_**

Chara and Frisk looked a little disappointed, but remained hopeful that one day they might learn it. Verdana looked curious, thinking about this. Suddenly, from right behind Verdana, they all heard a voice.

 _"_ _heh, but why don't we start with something simpler?"_ Sans spoke. Verdana screeched in surprise and fear, jumping away, sockets wide.

 _"_ _heh heh, sorry about that. i could tele that you didn't expect that."_ Sans said, no hint of an apology in his tone. Gaster sent a glare at Sans. He shrugged, _"yeah, i guess not everyone's used to me appearing, but it still makes for good jokes."_

Papyrus facepalmed, "SANS, I DON'T THINK WE'LL EVER GET USED TO THAT! NOW, APOLOGISE TO OUR SISTER!"

Sans nodded, _"yeah, sorry about that sis. i just love making pranks."_ He said.

"T-that's n-n-not a p-prank, t-that was just mean. M-meanie." Verdana said after calming a little down.

 _"_ _you're just like paps, no funny bone."_ He said, although still a bit apologetic.

"I-i h-have one, b-but I-i j-just consider t-that some p-people don't want to hear them," Verdana said back. Shots fired.

"Tibia honest, I found it quite humerus." Alex announced, smirking at Sans. Sans smiled back and pointed his hands at Alex in the shape of guns. _"Ehhh!"_ He said, holding back a laugh. Then Alex promptly received a smack on the back of his head by Chara. Verdana giggled a tiny bit at this, before shaking her head.

"C-can w-we g-get to the magic now?" She asked.

Sans nodded, _"yeah, truth be told i didn't actually come here just for jokes."_ He took a step forward and looked at Frisk and Chara. Sans summoned a bone and let it float just above his open palm. _"ya see this?"_

Alex raised his hand, smiling. Sans pointed at him with his free hand, _"yes, weird kid in the back!"_

"Is it Papyrus' funny bone?" Alex asked, still smiling until Chara took another swing at him, which he barely dodged.

Sans chuckled, _"close, but no. it's a bone. and why is this important?"_

Chara responded this time, "Because you're a skeleton?"

Sans nodded, _"yes. being a skeleton, bones are the easiest things to summon. which is why we don't use our blasters all the time."_ Sans got rid of the bone, _"now, you two can summon and produce things like us, but certain objects will be easier to summon than others."_

Gaster and Papyrus smiled, actually impressed by Sans' ability to teach and actually be serious when it was necessary. "How do we know what is the easiest for us?" Frisk asked quietly.

Gaster took a step forward to explain now, **_"Since you're both humans, it will likely be different for the two of you. It would most likely depend on your past experiences and personality. Just, try a few different things until you find what works best."_** They both nodded as Chara and Frisk took a few steps forward to try different things.

Alex took a step forward toward Gaster, "What about me? What can I do?"

Gaster nodded, **_"Well, after looking further into Purity souls and found out something peculiar. Although the Trait Bracelet helps you use different soul traits, it seems that you should be able to do so without the need of the device. That is, if you feel that specific feeling strong enough."_**

Alex smiled widened greatly as he ran off to an empty space to try it for himself, practicing alongside Frisk and Chara. Gaster stood there, smiling and watching them practice. Nothing too extreme or dangerous yet, luckily. Papyrus decided to go back upstairs to grab a few things while Sans and Asriel stood beside Gaster, watching this whole thing too.

Verdana squirmed a bit, not sure where to start. Gaster looked down at her, **_"Is there something wrong, Verd?"_**

"I-i d-dunno where to s-start…" She whispered to him. He nodded, understanding what she was talking about.

 ** _"_** ** _I see…"_** He smiled gently, **_"You wish to learn some magic as well, yes?"_**

Verdana nodded to her daddy, shifting from one foot to the other. He smiled, gently grabbed her hand, and slowly led her over to the side a bit. **_"Skeleton magic is made of mostly bones, but I've learned we can use some soul trait magic, and even summon special weapons of my own design…"_** He held out a hand and focused his magic, bringing one of his blasters into existence beside him, **_"I call them: Blasters."_**

 _"_ _what about gaster blasters. that's so much better."_ He heard Sans shout from behind him. He shook his head and said a bit more quietly, **_"Yes yes, or 'Gaster Blasters'. Though I don't really see the need to have MY name attached to it."_**

"D-did you c-c-come up with them?" Verdana asked. Gaster nodded, smiling a bit with pride.

 ** _"_** ** _Yes. It took a while, but since it utilizes bone magic, it is still fairly simple to use. Although still quite a bit harder than regular bone attacks."_** He said, **_"Sans and Papyrus actually loved my design so much that they learned to create it as well."_**

"C-c-could I make my own?" Verdana asked.

Gaster looked to the side a bit in hesitation, **_"W-well… I guess I could, but I'm going to put on some magic nullifiers while you work."_** He looked back at her in slight concern, **_"When I was working on my Blasters, the first few attempts ending in harsh explosions that caused injuries and damage. All they'll do is prevent magic overloads."_**

"O-okay Daddy," Verdana said. "B-before I s-start trying to, h-how do I do trait magic?"

Before Gaster could explain, he heard loud cheering to the side. "Yeeaah, I did it!" He heard Chara shout. He smiled down at Verdana before turning to the side to look at Chara. She was cheering with a huge smile on her face as she held a collection of red, glowing knifes over her hand, floating. She looked over to Gaster and waved with her free hand.

"Doctor Gaster, I did it! I found my main magic form!" She cheered. He smiled at this and looked to the other two humans. He saw Frisk with many different things floating around her, but due to the sweat on her face, he assumed she hadn't found hers yet. Alex was still focusing on his silver soul in front of him, with what looked like a very light shade of purple appearing on his soul.

 ** _"_** ** _Excellent work so far. Frisk, Alex, you're close. Keep it up!"_** He then turned back to Verdana, **_"Sorry about that, what'd you ask again?"_** He asked, forgetting for a moment.

"H-how do I d-do trait s-stuff, before I-i try making my blaster?" She asked again.

Gaster nodded, **_"From what I've learned, all skeleton's are proficient, or at least can be, with Integrity, or Gravity magic. Other than that one trait, we can still learn several others."_** Gaster summoned forth his soul, a white, upside down monster soul, but with an odd streak of purple on it.

"O-okay, h-how do I do that?" Verdana asked, squirming a little, excited.

Gaster smiled, but tilted his head to the side a bit, **_"The streak of purple or summoning your soul?"_** He asked.

"U-um, I m-meant the t-trait stuff, b-but the soul thing too," Verdana said.

 ** _"_** ** _Oh yes, sorry. Us monsters have normally white souls without traits, but we can still use them for magic purposes. The first part you must be familiar with is your own magical abilities. Then, for the trait, you need to focus on it, trying to amplify your emotions and let it flow through your magic. Monsters' emotions are very strong and powerful for us."_**

He tapped his skull for a moment, thinking, **_"For instance, Sans and Papyrus focus on different things when they use their blue magic. Papyrus' own innocence and integrity make his blue magic work. Sans, on the other hand, focuses on his role as a Judge, allowing him to use blue magic."_**

Gaster then pointed over towards Alex, who's soul was now a brilliant purple color. He was cheering and jumping in place in excitement. **_"You see that, Alex's Purity soul lets him use magic in a similar way to us. He likely focuses on his drive and perseverance to master his magic, allowing him to use purple magic."_** Gaster said, smiling and sending Alex a thumbs-up.

"O-okay, n-now how do I make blasters?" Verdana asked, getting some ideas.

Gaster smiled, **_"That is a bit trickier. You must channel your magic into a solid state. Much like how we are mostly made of magic from our soul, you must try to create another 'body' or object to channel your magic through. Think of the object you wish to make down to the finest detail imaginable. Feel the magic flowing into it in certain way, like it is almost separate from yourself."_**

He instructed before looking a bit cautious, **_"But, the reason many monsters do not try this is that it costs a heavy price. While these 'extra bodies' are in existence, your own magical energy in your own body will be much lower, leaving you vulnerable."_** He motioned toward Sans.

 ** _"_** ** _Your brother's HP is at 1, partially because of his emotional state, but also because of the blasters. Rather than unsummon them, he keeps them hidden so he may bring them out at a moment's notice. This amount of energy keeps his stats extremely low."_** He said, frowning with a bit of worry in his voice.

"W-why?" She asked, turning to him.

Gaster sighed, **_"My time in the Void has revealed many things to me. His paranoia. His fear. His lack of motivation. It all occurred because of one, single issue…"_** He looked down to his adopted daughter, **_"Resets…"_** He finally added.

Verdana tilted her head, confused. "Resets?" She questioned.

Gaster looked down at her, looked over and motioned toward Frisk and Chara, then looked back at Verdana, **_"You remember earlier, when I said they could rewind time?"_** He asked quietly as the children continued practicing, now with Asriel getting involved too. Verdana nodded, comprehension in her sockets.

He smiled weakly toward her for a moment before frowning a bit, **_"Before them, there was a… monster... named Flowey. This monster abused this power, forcing Sans to relive the same few days over and over again, with only himself and Flowey remembering it. During that time, he…"_** Gaster fought back the sadness, trying not to even come close to crying.

He continued, **_"He tortured Sans, killing Papyrus in front of him over and over again. Killing everyone he cared about, just to taunt him…"_** He looked over to said skeleton, watching the humans practice, **_"He knows the kids will never abuse their power, but a part of him still thinks the Resets are still possible. He's afraid of waking back up in Snowdin, repeating the days over and over again."_** He finished.

Verdana shook at this, starring with sympathetic eyes at her brother for a second, before shaking her head. She'd do something to make him feel better later. Instead, she closed her eyes, seeming to be concentrating.

Gaster closed his eye a moment, shook his head, and cleared his throat somehow. **_"Sorry about that, didn't mean to get so serious."_** He walked over to a nearby computer on the wall and typed in a few commands, turning on just a few magical inhibitors in the walls. Not enough to turn off magic, but just enough to weaken it and prevent any sort of overloads.

Verdana shut her sockets tighter, concentrating more. Something started forming next to her, slowly forming, mostly because she wasn't that experienced with making things. Gaster let a smile form on his face as he watched the display.

Slowly, what kinda looked like Verdanas skull formed, but with two differences. One was that it had horns that pointed forwards, and the second there was a little white bow on it. Gaster's smile widened, **_"Perfect. You're a natural!"_** He praised.

Verdana opened her eyes, looking at the skull and smiling widely. She sent it around herself experimentally, before saw that no one was really looking at her. Feeling mischievous a little, she sent it behind Chara, and had it charge a little.

Chara was having a mock battle against Asriel at the moment, her magical blades versus his fireballs. She felt something odd, like a chill run down her spine as the pressure behind her shifted. She turned around, spinning quickly and saw the blaster. Although used to seeing blasters before, she still let out a quick scream as she fell onto her butt. She caught her breath for a moment, clutching at her chest before examining the room around her, eyes quickly locking onto Gaster and Verdana. Gaster had a hand over his mouth to halt his laughter.

Asriel laughed aloud for a moment at Chara's scream before he immediately realised he probably shouldn't have done that. In a moment, he was pinned against the back wall by several magical knives, piercing his sweater and pants as he hung a foot off the ground, experiencing no pain other than his quickly beating heart. He narrowed his eyes towards Frisk and Alex as they began laughing now at his misfortune.

Asriel, watching them closely, realised that as they laughed, their eye were closed, including Chara. He summoned many bright orange fireballs in front of him as he was somehow filled with a foolish bravery to get Chara back. He forced the fireballs together into a large stream of orange fire that blew across the field towards those laughing at him, although he was kind enough to hold back on some of his power, it might still sting a little.

Verdana, the kid not laughing, realised what he was doing. Abandoning the white blast, her left eye turned green as the light in the right vanished, her holding her hand out to her blaster. The bow on it turned green, and it moved quickly, charging a blast that shot in front of the kids, making a green wall.

The fiery stream crashed against the newly created shield and was deflected away harmlessly, leaving a few burn marks on the ceiling now. Then, as quickly as it was created, the fire disappeared. The kids stopped laughing and was staring in awe at the scene before them. No one spoke for a moment, until Sans broke the silence.

 _"_ _well, orange you glad that verdana just save ya."_ He looked to Asriel for a moment and continued, _"no need to be green with envy, kiddo. it's no hue-se."_ He smiled in victory as he winked, earning groans from nearly everyone present, except Alex who laughed with Sans.

"T-that one was a stretch, e-even for you, big brother," Verdana said, eyes going back to normal as the blaster turned white, returning to her side.

Papyrus' screams of anger could be heard through the floor while he was above them still. Sans chuckled, _"heh, c'mon sis, you're gonna make me blue."_ As he said that, he turned Asriel's soul blue as he pulled him off the wall and back onto the floor, _"or… at least you'll make asriel blue."_ He said with his usual smile.

Verdana seemed to get an idea at this, turning to her blaster thoughtfully. She tried turning it blue, her left eye going the same color, the blasters little bow matching. She had it shoot at a spot at the floor, and that seemed to glow blue.

"C-can someone try stepping in t-t-that?" Verdana shyly asked. No one responded for a moment, until Asriel pointed to Chara, now beside her. "I think Chara volunteered!" He quickly shouted.

Chara sent him a glare, but sighed, "Yeah, yeah. I guess." She slowly made her way over to the blue spot on the floor. When she got close, she felt herself be pulled forwards, and when over it, abruptly felt her SOUL turn blue, pulling her face first into the spot on the ground.

Verdana's eye-sockets widened at this, covering her face. She didn't think it'd do all _that_. Luckily, Asriel had the decency to not laugh this time, mostly since he still had a desire to live. Alex began to rush over to the spot ignoring that it was still blue. As he got closer, he felt his soul blink blue, but something odd happened instead.

He felt the need to persevere and help Chara back up. His feeling to do so was so strong, in fact, that it overrode the blue magic as his soul remained its brilliant purple. He reached the spot, reached down, and picked up Chara before slowly carrying her back to everyone else. Everyone remained silent and in awe at the display. Never before seeing someone actively and successfully resisting a soul effect.

He looked at them for a moment in confusion, "What? I didn't shrink in there from the gravity or anything, did I?" He asked.

"N-no, y-you just… resisted t-the soul effect," Verdana said, so surprised she'd lost the blush she had gained from tripping Chara, turning her blaster and eyes back to normal and pulling it back to her side again.

Before Alex could respond, Chara spoke in his arms, "I'm not Frisk, you know. You can let me down now!" Alex blushed at this comment and promptly, and accidentally, dropped Chara back onto the floor.

Gaster, who had remained silent for a while, gasped all of a sudden, **_"Wow! I suspected your 'Pure Traits' were powerful, but not THAT powerful."_** He ran over to Alex and examined his still-purple soul, **_"There are so many tests I want to run now. So much to look into. How could I have missed this?!"_** He began to say, speaking without taking a breath, not that he needed to.

Gaster spent the rest of the evening wrapping up the magic lessons with everyone, but not having enough time to run any real tests. The Dreemurrs were picked up by Asgore this evening and brought home for dinner. Papyrus, Sans, Gaster, and Verdana all headed home too in Papyrus' car and enjoyed their evening before going to bed in preparation for the next morning.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _So, this one was a bit longer… But I'm sure you all didn't mind. Anyway, here was a bit of lore and some sort of explanation of some of the uses and limits of magic in the story. Hope it made sense… If not, let me know if you have a question. Thanks again for wasting your time reading my story._**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	12. What a Meaningful Conversation

The next few days were quite calm at school. Verdana was warming up to the Dreemurrs and MK, and had added a little bow to her skull like her blasters it was a rain-bow. They all received a fairly small amount of homework, and they were all progressing quite well with their magic skills. Papyrus was busy today, actually applying for a cooking job at Grillby's new pub nearby. He had exclaimed the other day, "MY GOAL IS TO MAKE THAT GREASE TRAP…" He narrowed his eyes for dramatic effect, "LESS GREASY!"

Since he was busy showing off his culinary skills to Grillby, they had to wait after school until their mom was done with her work today, which actually didn't take anywhere near as long as usual. After sitting on a bench bugging each other for about ten minutes, Toriel appeared, in her Delta Rune robes, walking out of the school and accompanied by her close friend and colleague, Mister Sower.

She was laughing as they approached the four children, probably because the teacher had told her a pun. "Hello children, how was your day?" She asked, still smiling.

"Good mom." "Glad it's a Friday." "Great." "It was school." They all responded at about the same time, jumbling their responses together. Mister Sower laughed for a moment and Toriel just smiled at them.

She turned back to Mister Sower for a moment, "Oh, I almost forgot. We were going to have a Barbeque tomorrow and we're inviting a bunch of friends over. Would you like to join us, perhaps?"

He smiled gently, "Of course, I'd love to." He nodded, "Thanks for the invite, Toriel!" She smiled as she gave him a quick, motherly hug. He laughed a bit and patted her on the back before they ended the hug before it got awkward, but his face still turned a bit red.

She giggled, "Come children, let's get home before your father tries to make another pie." They all nodded and followed close behind her as she waved back to her friend. Mister Sower then walked back off toward his own vehicle and climbed in while the others did the same.

* * *

Friday evening went by quickly, but Saturday wasn't going by fast enough for them. In preparation for the guests, Chara and Asriel went outside with Asgore to clean the backyard while Toriel cooked. Frisk and Alex, on the other hand, were tasked with cleaning inside.

"Moooommmm, this is taking forever!" Frisk whined as she continued picking up various movies and video games around the room.

Toriel, from the kitchen, spoke back, "Come on, my child. The guests will be arriving in just under an hour now." She said before turning her attention back to preparing some pies for dessert. Frisk continued whining as she picked some more stuff up as Alex retorted back at her.

"Frisk, c'mon. You got the easy job!" Alex said. Alex, on the other hand, was given a much harder task. He was currently standing up on a small ladder as he was cleaning some of the windows up higher and dusting some of the furniture. "How come Dad can't do this. He's tall enough to not need a ladder!" Alex began to whine as well.

Toriel sighed, "Because your father is outside cleaning the grill and working on the garden."

Alex continued cleaning where he was until there was only a bit more to do. The last amount of dusting required that he step down, move the ladder, and climb back up to clean it. However, being the kinda lazy person he was, Alex decided to try to stretch as far as he could to reach it.

After a moment, the ladder began to wobble thanks to Alex's 'brilliant' plan, and began to tip, setting him off balance. Frisk saw the commotion and ran over to help steady it, to no success. Then, Alex fell on top of Frisk, with Frisk laying flat on her back. Neither were in pain, but they both instantly grew large red blushes as they promptly tried to get back up. As soon as they separated but were still on the floor, Toriel turned around and looked at them.

"Is everything alright in here?" She asked. Both children mumbled something along the lines of being ok before rushing off and continuing their work as the blushes slowly faded.

Outside, looking through the window, were Chara and Asriel, watching the whole thing. What Alex and Frisk fail to see was the red, magical blade that vanished into thin air as quickly as it appeared, that had sent the ladder toppling. They both chuckled and fist bumped before then returned to their work outside, smiling at yet another success.

* * *

After another hour of work, everyone finished right as the first guests began to appears, starting with Undyne and Alphys. The four kids were sitting down by the couch when the door began to be knocked very loudly, creaking under the pressure as small cracks began to form as a result of the impacts. Toriel quickly answered the door before she could damage it any more. "Oh, hello Undyne. Hello Alphys." Toriel said.

"Hey your majesty!" Undyne said with her normal, toothy smile. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans, that had spear-shaped holes in them for obviously innocent reasons, and a black tank top. Her red hair was still in a ponytail.

"U-uh hey M-mrs. Dr-dreemurr." Alphys stuttered. Unlike usual, she was not wearing a lab coat, instead wearing a pink t-shirt that read "Mew Mew" on the front in large yellow letters. She was smiling despite the stuttering.

Toriel smiled at them both, "No, no. Please, call me Toriel. We're all friends here." Undyne smiled and nodded confidently while her girlfriend nodded a bit more hesitantly. Toriel moved to the side to let them in as they saw the children.

"Hey, ya little brats!" Undyne said with her smile still present, holding her arms out. All four of them rushed and gave her a hug. She laughed for a moment before shouting at them in a mock-irritated voice, "Hey punks, don't leave my girl out!" Before Alphys could even begin to utter a response, she was tackled by the other five into a large hug. They all laughed.

After a moment, the door was knocked again. This time, only two, medium sized knocks were made. Toriel smiled, "Who's there?" She asked through the door.

They could almost see the smile behind the door when the voice responded, "Dewey". A loud, audible groan could be heard behind the door as well.

Toriel's smile grew a bit wider, "Dewey who?"

"Dewey have to knock again?" Toriel chuckled a little bit as the groaning voice snapped, "SANS, THAT WAS AWFUL!" Toriel finally opened the door to find the whole skeleton family waiting there. Sans had a large grin on his face while Papyrus just looked annoyed. Verdana was holding back giggles. That one was actually decent.

Today, Papyrus was wearing his 'Battle Body', displaying it with pride as the wind outside blew his scarf like a cape. San kept his pink slippers and blue coat on, but underneath it was a different shirt. It was a white t-shirt with a periodic table on it that read, "I only tell science puns periodically."

Gaster wore his favorite black pants, which he had many pairs of, and settled for a plain dark red polo shirt instead of his normal black turtleneck. Verdana was wearing her favorite set of clothing that she normally wears, including her new bow, which made her look extra cute.

Toriel welcomed them in as everyone else greeted them. Undyne proceeded to immediately noogie Papyrus, much to his misfortune. Alphys proceeded to try to convince Undyne to stop doing so, which eventually succeeded. Many of them brought a few dishes of food for the dinner and were all talking happily until the doorbell rang, for the first time today.

Toriel walked over to the door excitedly and opened it. Standing outside Mister Sower, wearing a pair of light blue jeans and a black shirt that read "N7" in red letters in the corner. No one really knew what it meant, but they didn't care. "Ah, Jordan, you've arrived!"

Jordan smiled gently, "Thanks Toriel, thanks for inviting me over!" She nodded and welcomed him right in.

Undyne shook his hand upon seeing him, "Hey, I know you, you're one of their teachers, arentcha?" She asked.

He nodded, "Ahh, yes I am, Miss Undyne. Your not pushing these children too far in PE, are you?"

She let out a quick laugh, "HA, if anything, I'm going easy on them." Jordan smiled and looked over to the five students, each of them had wide eyes and shaking their head. He chuckled, "I see, then perhaps you should train them harder."

Both Jordan and Undyne laughed as the five children couldn't really figure out what was so funny. He shook hands and met Alphys for the first time, she actually stuttered very little until Jordan began to talk about Undyne's antics at the teacher's meetings. He finally met Sans and Papyrus officially, though he'd seen them around once or twice.

* * *

Everyone went outside to the tables to talk for a bit while Asgore finished up the food. The five kids sat at the end of the table next to each other. Chara and Asriel made sure that Alex and Frisk were forced to sit next to each other, much to their embarrassment.

Chara turned and looked away from their blushing faces to look at Verdana, noticing her bow for the first time. She smiled gently for a moment, "H-hey Verdana, nice bow." She complimented.

Verdana looked at her in surprise that she hadn't noticed it before, before smiling. "T-thanks," She said, a tiny blush on her face… skull? Whatever.

Asriel sat up a bit straighter and looked at Chara with a smirk. He then proceeded to do his best Papyrus impression, "WOWIE, A GENUINE COMPLIMENT!" He said mockingly. To no one's surprise, Asriel promptly received a kick under the table, making hims give off a soft cry in pain.

"S-so.. dance is n-next week," Verdana comments.

Unlike previously, Chara and Asriel turn to each other and smirk. Chara spoke, "Yeah, I can't wait." She turned around to look at Frisk and Alex, "I was wondering when these two were gonna figure out who they wanted to go with!" Neither of them looked at each other as their blushes grew.

Then, Alex made a mistake, "Y-yeah. I was wondering the same about the two of you!" He said without thinking, looking at Chara and Verdana. Chara's eyes widened to twice their normal size as a blush threatened to take over her face. Asriel froze, covering his mouth with a paw, desperately trying not to laugh. Verdana tilted her head, having not gotten the tease.

Asriel couldn't hold it in anymore and let out his laugh, making Chara now look at both him and Alex with her evil red eyes. They could feel the air pressure change as she prepared to summon magic in some sort of revenge plot. Then, suddenly, Asriel tried to abort her attack by 'slipping' and pushing Chara to the side, landing partially on Verdana's lap. She froze and the magic was aborted.

Verdana blushed deeply, squirming a bit, too surprised and embarrassed to speak. Chara slowly sat back up into her own chair. She looked deeply into Asriel's eyes and made one of her creepy faces, sending him shrieking in terror as he fell from his own chair and hit the ground.

Verdana had her hood up, covering her face with it. Looks like she doesn't handle embarrassment too well. Jordan Sower caught the sight of the little goat monster falling out of his chair from beside Undyne, "Hey, is everyone alright over there?" He asked, confused as to what was going on.

Chara turned to face the adults with a perfectly innocent smile on her face, "Yes sir. Asriel just saw a bee and fell off his chair. You know how he is, right?" She asked to Asriel, still on the ground. Hesitantly, he agreed as he got back up and sat down.

Toriel sighed and smiled, "Alright, just be more careful." She said before returning to the conversation she was just in.

Chara turned to Asriel and mouthed 'If you do that again, I'll end you', and Asriel shuddered for a moment before he nodded and looked forward.

"I… uh, I don't know what I'm going to do for the dance though. Who's all going to be there?" Asriel started, trying to fix the conversation.

With Frisk's blush gone, she smiled and sat forward a bit in her seat, "Y-yeah, I heard that Muffet will be there with her pastries and that Mettaton and Napstablook might show up as DJs!" She said excitedly.

Asriel beamed, "Whoa, that'd be so cool!" He turned to Verdana to see what she thought, but she was hiding away in her coat, still wearing a weird multi-colored blush. "Hey, you alright there, Verdana?" He asked.

Chara snapped a bit at him, "What do you think?! YOU decided it'd be funny to push me onto her!" She yelled a bit, but trying to suppress her voice enough so as not to regain the adults' attention. After a moment, Chara reached out toward the skeleton beside her and gently put a hand on her shoulder, "You ok?" She asked softly.

"Y-y-y-yeah," Verdana said, blush increasing. Chara let out a sigh of relief for just a moment before she felt something pull at her chest. Chara looked down to see two odd things. The first thing was her soul in front of her, which was pretty odd. The second was that it was now blue. She looked up to see Alex smirking and looking between her and Verdana.

Alex spoke quietly, "Hey Chara, how about we make a deal. You stop with the teasing…"

Chara scowled at him, "Or what?!" Her red eyes threatening to burn him.

Alex smiled mischievously, "Or I could alter gravity a bit to your right and…" Chara's blush returned.

She clenched her teeth shut, "YOU… WOULDN'T…" Alex felt a hand on his shoulder, which turned out to be Frisk's. She shook her head at him, telling him this wouldn't be a good idea.

Alex hesitated for a moment and sighed, "UGH, I can't win!" He said, putting his head down on the table and dropping his right arm, allowing it to swing for just a moment before he realized his mistake. Chara suddenly fell onto Verdana's lap once more as her soul returned to red as soon as Alex could. His eye's widened with fear.

Verdana was a stuttering and blushing mess at this point, her tail wrapped around her leg as she put her skeletal hands over her face, half of it green, the other half being 5/7ths of the rainbow.

Chara jumped up from her seat and off of Verdana's lap in a heartbeat, joined by Alex doing the same. Alex began backing away from the table slowly, "H-hey s-sis… let's j-just talk this out f-for a m-moment." He stuttered out in fear. Chara lightly patted Verdana's back for a moment before stepping around the table. Now, there were no obstacles between herself and her target.

In a heartbeat, Alex was belly-down on the floor with Chara on top of him. She whispered in his ear so no one else heard, "So, you're going to apologize to Verdana for being so unbelievably rude, and then you're going to promise to never pull this kind of stunt again. Are we clear?!" She said, quickly and menacingly.

"A-and if I s-say no?!" Alex tried.

Chara smirked and whispered, "This…" She turned around, while still being atop Alex, and looked at Frisk, "Hey, Frisk!" She yelled toward Frisk, no anger in her voice, which unsettled Alex much more.

After Chara say Frisk nod, she continued, "My dear pal Alex would like to ask you something." She turned back to look at Alex, still speaking loud enough for everyone to hear, " Right Alex? What was it about again? The dance?"

Alex froze beneath Chara, growing pale beside the blush erupting on his face. He tried to reason with Chara, "H-hey Chara. I d-don't th-think we n-need to d-do this r-right now…" He tried. She was still waiting for his final choice. He knew that he couldn't use magic to get out of this one.

Alex started to speak as best as he could aloud, "V-Verdana. I a-am so truly s-sorry for what I d-did t-to you and C-chara. A-and I pr-promise never, ever t-to do it a-again!" Chara turned toward Verdana to see.

Verdana is not home right now. Leave a message after the beep. Which basically meant, she was too busy covering her face embarrassed to react, having brought her arms and skull into her jacket and was curled up in it now. Kinda like a turtle.

Chara turned back to Alex, "What a shame, it seems she might not have heard you. Guess you'll have to go say it again." Chara got up and forced Alex to stand right next to Verdana. Chara softly put a hand on Verdana's back and rubbed it slowly and gently to try to calm her down.

"Hey, hey. It's alright Verd. Come on out." She said gently towards Verdana, which simultaneously holding Alex's wrist in a death grip. Eventually, she poked her head of from her jacket, the hood raising a bit, showing she was still blushing. Chara smiled a bit wider now, holding back her own blush. She elbowed Alex in the side quickly, causing him to flinch in pain for a second.

"H-hey Verdana…" He began quietly. Asriel and Frisk remained silent throughout the entire ordeal, unsure if they should help someone, intervene, or laugh. He continued, "I… uh, wanted to a-apologise for I did, messing w-with you and C-Chara."

"O-o-okay…" She mumbled… before immediately going back into her jacket. He promptly received another elbow into his side, making him wince and flinch again.

"A-and I wanted to say that it'd n-never happen again!" He quickly tried to add. All he got was a muffled noise that said she heard him.

Chara smiled and turned to Alex in victory, "Thank you, my dear brother. You may now take a seat beside your girlfriend, again." Alex hid his own face in his hands as he sat down beside Frisk, face down on the table. Chara, still smiling, sat back down beside Verdana and continued trying to calm her down by rubbing her back in circles gently.

Frisk spoke after a moment with a small, faded blush on her face, "S-so, Alex. What w-was that Ch-chara was talking about over t-there with a question?" All she received as an answer was a groan from Alex while still hiding his face on the table.

Finally, at just the right moment, Asgore called out to everyone, "Excuse me, but the food is ready now!" He said in his deep, friendly voice. All at once, everyone began to get up from the table and make a mad dash for the counters inside where all the food was. Everyone filled their plates up with plenty of delicious food and sat back down at their seats to enjoy it. Almost everyone forgot about their previous embarrassment for a moment or two as they enjoyed the wonderful meal… except for Verdana. She refused to move.

Chara told Gaster about her immobile state and he fixed up a plate for her before placing it in front of her. After a couple seconds, her blast came out, growing and grabbing bits of food before bringing it back in for her. Hopefully Sans didn't see that and get new laziness ideas.

Unfortunately, everyone saw the blaster appear for a moment, surprising all of them, but it mainly surprised Jordan Sower, the teacher, the most. "W-what the heck was THAT?" He asked.

Papyrus was smiling, "THAT, MY GOOD NEW FRIEND, WAS VERDANA'S MAGIC. SHE'S QUITE GOOD. SO GOOD IN FACT, THAT ONE DAY SHE MIGHT BE ALMOST AS GOOD AS ME! NYEH HEH HEH!" He said with all of his usual humbleness.

Jordan clutched his chest for a moment, "I can feel my soul ready to leave my chest." He joked, smiling widely.

Undyne straightened in her seat, "Hey, that reminds me, what color soul do YOU have, Jordan?"

Jordan looked confused for a moment before nodding, "Oh, I see. Well, I would like to tell you, but… I've never seen it." He said, shrugging as if it weren't that important.

Undyne stood up out of her seat with energy, "You've never seen it?! How? Now we gotta know!"

Jordan shook his head, "C'mon, it's not THAT important." He said, still smiling. Undyne looked around for help convincing him.

Alex spoke up, "What if it's a cool soul, like mine or Frisk's?" Frisk nodded and smiled, just like Asriel was, although his mouth was still full of food. Everyone else nodded and murmured in agreement, wanting to see their new friend's soul. Finally, Jordan gave in, "Alright, alright. But I don't know magic or how to summon my soul… And I'd rather not die to find out." He quickly added.

Gaster widened his eyes, " _ **Fear not, we monsters can summon your soul forward for you… in fact…"**_ Gaster turned to the side and yelled out toward Verdana, " _ **Hey, Verd, mind coming over here for a moment?"**_ He asked gently.

She peeked out for a moment, before nodding, un-turtling herself and coming over, hood still over her face, her blaster following next to her. Gaster smiled, " _ **You were interested in summoning souls, right? Well, the best way to learn is through experience. Why don't you help us and summon Mr. Sower's soul?"**_ He asked gently.

"O-o-okay, h-how?" Verdana asked timidly.

Gaster got up and led her over next to the teacher, smiling at both of them. Gaster turned and spoke, " _ **Your soul is the entire culmination of your being, if you recall. You can summon forth the soul of anyone, but the better you know them, the easier and simpler it is. Imagine everything you can about who Mister Sower is, and condense all of that information into a single point, his Soul. Then, pull it slowly back towards you and away from them to summon it. Got it?"**_ He asked.

Verdana nodded, turning to her teacher and reaching a hand out, concentrating. Slowly, she pulled her hand back. Just a few inches in front of Mister Sower's chest was a floating heart, his soul. But, this soul was different from any other. It was a brilliant, shining gold color. Not a yellow, but a gold color, shocking everyone around the table.

Mister Sower spoke, "What? What's wrong? Is my soul bad?" He asked, worried about everyone's reaction.

Gaster spoke softly, but loud enough for everyone to hear, " _ **No sir. There's nothing wrong with your soul. It's just… I've never seen a trait like THAT before!"**_ He said, mystified by the human soul before him. After a moment, Gaster looked down to Verdana with a smile, " _ **Great job Verd. Perfect on your first attempt!"**_ Verdana smiled a little, blushing returning, hiding a bit more in her jacket again, hiding a wince.

Alex walked over and looked at it a bit closer, "Hey, he's just like me. We both have unique soul traits that no one else has!" He said with a smile.

After the meal ended, the Dreemurr children begged their parents to allow them to follow Gaster and their teacher back to his lab to learn more about his unique trait. Finally, they relented, and allowed them to go, taking a shortcut with Sans to get there.

Now, the lab contained the four Dreemurrs, the four skeletons, the teacher, and both Undyne and Alphys. Alphys came to help Gaster with the equipment while Undyne refused to leave her side, coming with her. Now, in the main lab, Jordan Sower sat in a special chair, hooked up to a few machines.

" _ **Doctor Alphys, did you bring the soul scanner?"**_ He asked, keeping most of his attention toward the display on his screen.

"Y-yes sir. R-right h-here." She said, handing him a small device. He swept it over Jordan's still displayed soul and allowing it to fully scan all data and magical energy coming off of it. Undyne was pacing impatiently by some other machines while everyone else stood there silently watching. After a few moment, Gaster turned toward the group.

" _ **Alright. All data points to the presence of a new, unidentified trait. This trait, the golden trait, is remarkable powerful, possibly even rivaling Determination or Purity Souls. Unfortunately, I don't have enough data on unique soul traits, so I'll have to do some research using the QMA to try to find other unique signatures to compare it to."**_

Mister Sower looked up at the doctor, "So, it'll be some time before I know for certain?"

Gaster nodded, " _ **Yes, however, I already have the machine running, looking for potential matches. It should only be a ma-"**_ Suddenly, Gaster was interrupted by warning sirens going off around the QMA device. He immediately took off over there to find out what's wrong. Everyone followed suit.

Gaster turned around with a panic in his eyes, " _ **It's overloading, I need help! Any strength and gravity magic you can spare to keep it together might save it!"**_

Gaster ran over to his console with Alphys as Sans, Papyrus, Alex, and Verdana quickly enveloped the out-of-control vortex with blue magic, holding it in place. Undyne ran up, despite the potentially dangerous vortex, and tried to physically hold the portal together. Frisk and Chara used their magic to create objects around the frame to try to prevent it from warping any further as well. Jordan stayed back, unsure on what he could do.

It looked like it might actually solve the problem for a moment, until Gaster's console began to light up with warnings and errors. Suddenly a single message filled up the entire screen as it began to make a horrifying, static-like sound.

 _ **eRrOr: yOu AsKeD fOr ThIs. YoU hAvE nO cOnTrOl AnYmOrE.**_

Gaster's eye-sockets widened when they were suddenly filled with light as the vortex shattered reality around everyone near it. Alex dove for Frisk as Chara dove for Verdana, trying to get to them before they were overcome by the vortex…

* * *

Gaster opened his eyes for a moment in a daze. He looked around in confusion to find himself flat on his back, behind his now overturned desk. Alphys was lying nearby as well, likely unconscious from the blast. The… BLAST!

Gaster stood up suddenly and looked around the lab for his children. For the King's and Queen's children. For his partner's girlfriend. All he found was the QMA machine shattered, yet the basic frame was lying in two nearly clean halves. In the center of the floor also lied Jordan's unconscious body as well. What happened? How'd it all go wrong?

That's when he remembered the message that popped up. He rubbed his chin in thought, " _ **I asked for this? I'm not in control 'anymore'?"**_ He questioned. Was the message specifically for him? He didn't know. What he did know was that he had a lot of explaining to do, and a lot of work to do quickly. He had to get them back from… wherever they went.

* * *

Little did Gaster know but two portals, rather than one, appeared in the distance, in different timelines, dumping out his friends and family. Over one portal, was a familiar scene of Snowdin with trees and snow, but the atmosphere around the trees was blood red. Over the other, was a normal colored ceiling above Snowdin, but a certain skeleton was watching this one from the shadows, his orange hoodie hiding every feature of his face except for the cigarette in his mouth.

Gaster… had a lot of work ahead of him… he was going to have to move fast!

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **So… wonder if anyone can figure out where the groups were sent to. I mean, it's not like I gave any hints or anything.**_

 _ **RAZ: I think it's obvious, but then again, I know, so… maybe? Dunno. BANANA!(#NotAMinion)**_

 _ **...ok… Anyways, leave a fav, review, PM or something if you liked this chapter with a new Soul Trait, lots of teasing and 'ships', and some new timelines to mess with.**_

 _ **-swrWriter**_

* * *

 _ **Extra Note: Listen up guys and girls or whatever. This would've gone up sooner, but I've been out of the country on vacation, so there's that. Onto the most important thing though...**_

 _ **I'm taking a small break from writing**_

 _ **No, I didn't lose interest. No, there will still be a few updates since I've written a few extra buffer chapters before now. The issue is a family issue. A very close family member of mine is approaching his final days, so I ask that you please give me some time. The next four-ish chapters will be up next week, and they will continue if I return soon enough, but if not... please know that I do plan to keep writing. I just don't think I 'can' or 'want' to do it for a little bit.**_

 _ **I may occasionally have some time to respond to a PM, but other than that, I will be spending time with my family. Sorry about all the seriousness and I hope you have liked and enjoyed the story so far.  
**_


	13. Swaps are Wierd (pt 1)

Sans woke up face down in the snow. He would be shivering, but we was a skeleton, so the cold went right through him. Hehe, he'd have to use that one later. He put both hands underneath him as he sat up, looking into the sky. Well, he expected a sky, since he clearly wasn't still in the lab. As he turned around, he saw the familiar large black sticks they called trees in the Underground.

Sans froze mid spin. Not literally, because of the skeleton thing, but he saw in place, internally panicking. _'Crap, crap, crap! SSHHHIIIITTTT!'_ he thought to himself. This was another Reset, wasn't it. He knew it was too good to be true. He knew his nearly perfect life on the surface would never be forever.

Suddenly, his fears evaporated when he heard coughing from beside him. He quickly turned to see Frisk slowly trying to get up, shivering heavily from the cold. Beside her was Asriel, also getting up but doing fine because of his fur. Sans let out a sigh of relief, knowing that the world wasn't a Reset.

Then, he remembered Frisk's shivering and ran over to her, putting his heavier hoodie around her, _"you alright kiddo, not catching a cold, right?"_

She smiled as she wrapped herself up in the coat, "T-thanks S-s-sans." She said, still shivering. He looked over to see Asriel fully standing now, he looked around and looked carefully at the trees before turning to made eye contact with Sans.

"Sans, are we in the Underground?" He asked quietly. Sans nodded. It looked like the blast sent them back Underground. Probably one of those space-rift openings again. He stood and looked around for anyone else that may have been caught in the blast, before seeing a boney tail sticking out of the snow and moving side-to-side slowly.

 _"_ _sis?!"_ Sans shouted as he ran over to her location. _"hey sis, you alright?"_ He heard muffled panicking, the little skeleton girl trying to get out of the snow pile and failing. Looks like she forgot magic was a thing. Sans sighed as he used his magic to pick her up and bring her into his arms.

 _"_ _heh, you alright sis? It's snow problem, right?"_ He asked with his normally goofy smile. She simply whimpered, shaking still, curling into him. He held her tightly and close, _"hey, don't worry sis, your big bro's got you!"_ He said reassuringly.

Then, Sans heard some shouting to his side, "CHARA?!" Asriel was yelling, while Frisk was yelling, "ALEX?!" Then, it dawned on Sans… If they'd all ended up here, then others might have been caught in the blast as well. Though he didn't know who else was out there, he was really hoping Papyrus was safe back in the lab.

Verdana seemed to only get more panicked at the screaming, trembling and whimpering more. Sans still held her tightly as he turned back to the other two kids, _"alright, i'm pretty bone tired at the moment, and i can't shortcut us home, but we could crash at my old place for the night. we can figure out what to do next after we get some rest."_

Sans sighed internally. Since when was HE the responsible adult. Unfortunately, he'd have to suck it up and lead them to safety. The two kids nodded and followed closely behind him as they walked through the forest towards Snowdin Town. He looked down, _"how you holdin up sis?"_ He asked gently.

"S-s-scared," She whimpered.

He smiled, _"don't worry, nothing's gonna happen to ya."_ He said quietly, reassuring her of her safety. They continued walking, seeing the lights of Snowdin in the distance. It was odd though. Why were they seeing lights when everyone was above now? Sans stopped in his tracks for a moment and looked back to Asriel and Frisk, _"i, uh… i don't think this is our underground, guys…"_ He said, still trying to be quiet.

"What do you mean?" Asriel asked. Sans took a side step and let them see the lights of Snowdin, both of them pausing with their eyes widening. Asriel spoke again, "S-so what d-do we do?" He asked.

Sans rubbed his chin for a moment, still holding Verdana closely, _"well, we'll need to blend in. we need to pretend like we are from here. so, we try to act like whatever our counterparts are like, if there are any…"_ Frisk and Asriel nodded, completely agreeing. As they approached the town, Frisk and Asriel staying closely behind him, they heard a sound.

They all stopped and turned to see a tall monster leaning against a tree. It was wearing an orange hoodie, similar to Sans' but larger, and a pair of beige shorts, while it also seemed to have some smoke coming out of its mouth. Both of its hands were in its pockets, hiding them from view. Looking more closely, it looked like the monster was smoking a cigarette… and it looked like… Papyrus?

The monster lifted its head a little, revealing his face as he remained against the tree relaxing. "Oh, hey. 'Sup bro." He said. Sans' eye-sockets widened for a second before hiding the shock. Both Asriel and Frisk were shocked too, but they stood behind Sans where this 'Papyrus' couldn't see them. "Whatcha got there, bro?" The skeleton said, motioning towards Verdana.

Sans thought for a moment, trying to come up with an excuse and response that would both make sense and dispel any doubts about him. _"a friend."_ he said quickly, _"i saw her hurt, so i was gonna bring her home to get better."_ He hated lying to Papyrus, but this wasn't his so… I guess it doesn't count.

Papyrus smiled, "Of course you are. After all, you are the coolest, taking care of people like that." Sans internally sighed, it looked like he was actually buying it.

Sans quickly nodded, _"yup, you know how you could be as cool as me?"_ He asked.

Papyrus just tilted his head in wonder. "Oh bro, I could never be as cool as you. You're the Great Sans! No one even comes close."

Needless to say, Asriel and Frisk were as confused as ever, hearing this backwards conversation between the skelebros. Verdana seemed to get a little what was going on. "S-s-swap, y-you and p-pap, s-swapped how you a-act," She whispered to him.

Sans smiled, still pretty confused but trying to play along, _"i, uh, i know b-brother. but you could easily become closer if you put some more b-backbone into your work."_ Sans felt ashamed at himself. He never knew how hard it'd actually be to act like Papyrus. Either the doppelganger didn't notice the issues, or was keeping it a secret, he shrugged. Although Sans knew, if this Papyrus was like himself, he already knew that they didn't belong."

"Oh, hey bro. Who's that behind you? More friends?" Papyrus asked, still smoking against the tree.

 _"_ _o-oh, you know how great i am. always looking for new friends."_ Sans said, quickly losing his facade.

Papyrus kept up his act though, "Really? I'm so proud of you bro. Mind if I meet 'em?" Sans, somehow, began to form sweat on the back of his head and neck. He swallowed and cleared his throat somehow and looked down at Verdana for a moment and thinking to himself. If he and paps swapped, who would Asriel and Frisk swap to?

"F-frisk s-s-swap with Chara?" Verdana whispered, guessing. Sans' sweating only grew. He remembered Gaster's and Alex's report of the genocide. It was caused by Chara, and since all Sanses remember through resets… he hoped to some god out there that this timeline hadn't experienced one of those.

Finally, Sans took a side-step, allowing Papyrus to see the children. He looked them over carefully for a moment, not saying a word. "Ah, I see. Hello kiddos." He said slowly and deliberately. Sans took one of his hands away from Verdana and put it into his pocket slowly, preparing to summon his blasters.

Papyrus looked at Frisk for a moment longer, "Excuse me kid, but… I believe I've seen you before. What's your name?"

"F-F-Frisk, sir." She stammered out, feeling the dread fill the air. Asriel reached an arm over Frisk and pushed her behind him.

Papyrus nodded, "Hmm, Frisk? What a lovely name. And such a unique one too…" Sans knew exactly what was happening. In perfect sync, Papyrus and Sans each pulled out three Gaster Blasters and pointed them at each other. Both ready to charge up and fire in an instant, but neither actually doing so, so that they don't provoke the other.

Papyrus kept his cool, "Hmm. Bro, I didn't know you could do that too?" And then he looked back to Frisk for a moment before resuming eye-socket contact, "And you've made friends with… them…" He added. Not really sure what was going on, but wanting to help, Verdana shrunk her own blaster down, it thankfully still back where they crashed, having it sneak behind the stranger-papyrus, growing a bit, ready to charge.

 _"_ _listen paps, we don't want any trouble."_ Sans started.

Papyrus shrugged, still leaning against the tree, "Bro, do you even know who these 'friends' of yours are?" He asked, both pupils in his eye sockets disappeared, "I've never seen her." He said, pointing at Verdana, "You've got what looks like a miniature version of Alphys' fanboy…" He motioned towards Asriel. "And finally, you got her… **a dirty brother killer.** "

Sans was a little worried, but at least they now know who everyone swapped with, which left additional questions to form in their place, like: Why doesn't Verdana have a counterpart? That was really starting to bother him, especially since he didn't pick up on this before since he's normally pretty perceptive.

 _"_ _listen bro, i think there's been a misunderstanding."_

Papyrus' pupils returned for a moment, "How about this then, you aren't clearly MY bro, so if you can answer this question, I'll drop the blasters. What is…" He pause a moment, "the secret password?" Sans' expression frowned, both at the realization that he would have to say THAT phrase, and because this Papyrus already knew a lot about them from just this short interaction.

Sans sighed, " _i am… the legendary fartmaster…"_ He finally said. It wasn't as funny when HE was the one who had to say it.

Papyrus froze in place for a second with wide eye-sockets before he doubled over and began to laugh wildly, sending his blasters away. "Oh... Oh my god, that was gold! I can't believe you're so immature Sans!" He continued to laugh for a few more moments. Sans looked around to see both Asriel and Frisk trying to hold back their own laughs. Sans couldn't help the smile on his face now, 'that was pretty good, i guess' He thought. He looked down at Verdana while the other three were laughing.

She was just confused, tilting her head. Sans just shrugged at her confusion. Finally Papyrus' laughing dies down, "Alright… alright…" He began as he caught his breath, "My bro is off with a date with Chara and Alphys, so you can come on over for a bit and explain yourselves. You're OBVIOUSLY not from here, are ya?" He asked as he received several nods. "Follow me, I know a shortcut."

They four of them followed him closely between the trees in the forest before they suddenly found themselves exiting the refrigerator in the skeleton's kitchen. He motioned towards the couch and allowed them to sit on it, he instead opted to leaning against the wall across from them.

"So… where're you all from?" He asked as nonchalantly as possible.

Sans, all snuggled up on the couch, spoke, _"we're from another timeline, where everything is the reverse of this."_

Papyrus nodded, "I see. So, where your from Frisk is innocent, Chara is less so, and Asriel isn't a fanboy?" Sans nodded, him having guessed pretty accurately. Papyrus nodded to himself for a moment before pointing to the skeleton in Sans' arms. "Who's that? She looks too old to be a daughter or another sister." He asked, tilting his head in thought.

A small part of Sans wanted to agree to and question it. After all, not having a counterpart was starting to raise some red flags for Sans. Several more were being raised since he hasn't figured this out previously. He looked up to his 'bro', _"oh, she's verdana. our adopted sis. gaster found her… you know gaster here, right?"_

Papyrus nodded, "Yes, I'm the only one who truly remembers him." He said, hiding a small frown the moment it appeared. Papyrus, however, wasn't fully satisfied with Sans' answer as he looked to the small skeleton he held closely. "So, little one, what's your story?" He asked her, a small friendly smile on his face as he examined her closely.

"I-i d-don't remember much before daddy found me…" She said, squirming a bit at his gaze.

Papyrus turned his gaze a little less harsh and nodded with a smile, "Well, it seems that you, at least, believe yourself. As much as you don't remember… I'm sure there's some history prior…" He said with a confident smirk for a moment, before shaking his head and smiling a bit more softly.

"Bah, but that's not the main concern, is it…?" He asked.

Sans shook his head, _"nah, the main concern is getting back home. we kinda didn't mean to show up here."_ He said.

Papyrus stroked his jaw in thought for a moment, "Right. I did find you all passed out in the snow, and unless that's how you normally travel to timelines, I'd assume this was an accident." Papyrus kept a close eye on his guests as he spoke, especially Frisk and Verdana; the wild cards.

Frisk spoke now, previously sitting silently between Asriel and Sans on the couch, "H-how'd you find us?" She asked quietly. Sans smiled a bit, already guessing at what the reason was, and knowing he was correct one Papyrus answered.

"I was taking my daily post-brunch, pre-lunch nap when my machine woke me up and notified me of an anomaly in the forest…" Papyrus said with a relaxed smile. He took his cig out of his mouth for a moment before putting it back in to continue, "So, me being the curious bonehead I am, I checked it out to find you all asleep."

Sans put on a wider smile, _"guess you could say we were all bone tired after we arrived."_

Papyrus smiled a bit wider in response, "Really, no fibula? Tibia honest, I expected as much." This 'pun war' only made Sans smile even wider.

Sans continued, _"why do you find this so humerus? It's serious!"_ Although Sans' expression said otherwise.

"Maybe if you put a bit more backbone into your work, this wouldn't have happened… but I'm glad to see you have a funny bone." Papyrus responded back, smiling widely still.

"M-maybe you t-two can stop being n-numbskulls, so we can get home," Verdana has joined the puns.

Sans was smiling even wider somehow when Verdana joined in. He looked down at her for a moment, _"you're right. but if you weren't i don't think i have the guts to tell you otherwise."_

Frisk was dying on the floor, rolling around and clutching her stomach as she laughed, while Asriel saw there with his hand over his face as he tried to hide his shame. The three skeletons joined with Frisk and laughed as well. Both Papyrus and Sans wiped a tear from their eye-sockets as they recovered.

"Best. Anomaly. Ever." Papyrus said with a smile. Sans wholeheartedly agreed, nodding before jumping up and high-fiving Papyrus.

"You r-really h-had to take the high road there," Verdana commented. Sans looked down at her with a smile and just shrugged.

 _"_ _anyway, think you could help us bro?"_ Sans said, smiling at Papyrus.

"Well bro, I think we'd need Undyne's help as well."

"What's she gonna do to help? Threaten the universe until a portal opens?" Asriel asked for a moment before face-palming, "Right, right. We're all swapped." Sans and Papyrus chuckled.

Papyrus put a hand on Sans' shoulder, "Don't worry bro. You, me, and Undyne? Together, I'm sure we could fix any problem." He said, still smiling but his voice filled with confidence. Frisk finally recovered and stood back up.

"So, when are we gonna start? I miss Alex…" She began before widening her eyes, "A-and Ch-ara and everyone else!" She quickly added, hoping no one heard her at first.

Verdana giggled a little, but said nothing. Frisk shot her a quick glare, but then promptly tried to hide it from the incredibly perceptive skele-bros, to absolutely no success. Papyrus chuckled, "Don't worry little lady, we'll return you to your bonely lover." He said with a smirk, making Frisk hide her blush in her hands. Asriel began poking and teasing her a bit as well.

Suddenly, everyone was interrupted by a knock at the door. Papyrus beat Sans and spoke first, "Who's there?"

Very odd shouting could be heard through the door, _"PAPYRUS! OPEN UP AT ONCE, THIS IS NOT ONE OF YOUR LAME JOKES!"_ Papyrus didn't get up and continued to lean against the wall, smirking.

"Sorry bro, can't think of a good response for that." He said back, just loud enough for the monster on the other side of the door could hear. Frisk and Asriel held a hand over their mouths to prevent their giggling from becoming audible. Sans' eye-sockets widened, realizing who was one the other side of the door. He wasn't quite ready for a Papyrus-themed Sans.

 _"_ _I APOLOGIZE HUMAN. PLEASE, DO NOT FOLLOW MY OWN OR ALPHYS' LEAD ON DO THIS."_ They heard shouted from the other side of the door. Suddenly, Papyrus' eye grew orange for a moment as he used his magic to open the door from where he was still leaning against the wall.

On cue, a small blue skeleton ran through the doorway and crashed into the sink in the kitchen, not expecting the door to open so unexpectedly. He hit it and bounced off onto the floor, _"AHHH, PAPYRUS!"_ He yelled in slight annoyance and pain while still sitting on the floor in the middle of the kitchen.

"A-are you okay?" Verdana called. The skeleton on the floor jumped up in a nanosecond and spun around to address the voice. His eye-sockets widened upon seeing all the guests in his house.

 _"_ _BROTHER, YOU NEVER SAID YOU WERE INVITING FRIENDS OVER?!"_ He said in confusion. This Sans doppelgänger wore a much shorter and much bluer version of Papyrus' battle body. He had a cool blue scarf around his neck and almost literal stars in his eye-sockets.

Papyrus, still on the wall nearby, simply shrugged, "They're new friends bro, and I thought you'd like to meet them." The swapped Sans ran into the room quickly, smiling at everyone in a friendly matter.

 _"_ _GREETINGS, NEW FRIENDS!"_ He looked at Verdana in Sans' arms, _"YOU MUST HAVE BEEN THE ONE WHO SPOKE A MOMENT AGO. THANK YOU FOR WORRYING, BUT NOT JUST ANYTHING CAN HURT THE GREAT SANS!"_ He said, striking a cool pose in the middle of the living room.

"You're so cool bro." Papyrus added with a gentle smile. The bluer version of Sans nodded as if it were blatantly obvious. He looked around at the guests. _"WHOA. PAPYRUS, IS THAT…"_ He took a step closer to Papyrus, trying to whisper and succeeding as well as regular Papyrus does, _"THAT'S ANOTHER HUMAN, RIGHT?"_

They both looked at Frisk, who was hiding slightly behind Asriel, "Actually bro, I think that's just the kid from down the street."

 _"_ _OH…"_ The newer Sans said with a little disappointment, and nodding. "Oh, hey bro, what's that behind the goat kid?" He asked with mock shock.

 _"_ _OH MY GOD. ANOTHER HUMAN!"_ He said, squealing in delight. The swapped Sans turned around and looked toward the door, _"OTHER HUMAN FRIEND, IS THIS A FRIEND OF YOUR FROM THE SURFACE?"_ He asked.

Suddenly, another human child, a little younger than Frisk, walked in the door. She held her right arm with her left, and looked a bit shy as she walked in. Verdana looked at the human, before quickly turning away and hiding in her jacket. The human was wearing a green and yellow sweater with a brown pair of pants on. Her red eyes barely poking out from behind her brown hair.

Papyrus smiled gently, "Ah, how was your date with Alphys, Chara?" He asked. She smiled weakly and nodded with a thumbs-up before looking around the room and seeing a lot of people in the house. Papyrus nodded, "Yes, we have lots of visitors today…" The bluer version of Sans sent a silent glare his way as Papyrus continued, "A skele-ton." He said with a smile, causing the little Chara to giggle.

 _"_ _AARRRGGGHH! PAPYRUSSSS!"_ The swapped Sans said, yelling out in anger and disbelief.

"C'mon bro, you're smiling!"

 _"_ _I AM, AND YOU KNOW I HATE IT."_ Normal Sans, Frisk, and Asriel all laughed at the classic brotherly quarrel, Verdana giggling. Chara looked over to Frisk and gasped aloud, stepping back and landing against a wall. Fear was prevalent in her young eyes. The swapped Sans looked surprised and concerned, _"HEY CHARA, LOOK AT ME."_ He said as he approached her and put a hand on each shoulder.

She looked up with tears running down her rosey cheeks, _"IT'S OK. WHAT'S WRONG CHARA?"_ Chara, still frightened, pointed at Frisk and spoke shakily, "N-n-nightm-mares…" She barely said.

Asriel looked to Frisk for a moment and whispered, "Frisk, did you ever have nightmares about Chara?" Frisk shook her head in response, which brought a smile to Asriel's face before they turned back to the matter at hand.

Papyrus spoke up, but still gently, "Chara, it's ok. I wouldn't let anyone bad anywhere near ya. I'm keeping an eye-socket out for ya, remember?" He said with a wink. Chara's tears stopped and she smiled a bit as she nodded and stepped forward.

The new Sans spoke, _"SO, THIS IS CHARA EVERYONE. AND I'M SANS, THE GREAT SANS!"_ He said with confidence and a huge smile.

"H-hi, I'm Frisk." Frisk said, shaking hands with the new Sans, and then went over to see the younger Chara. Asriel shook next and smiled. Then, the swapped Sans walked over to the normal Sans.

 _"_ _GREETING SIR. AND WHO ARE YOU?"_ He said, extending his hand and remaining oblivious as to who actually stood before him.

Sans sent a smirk to Verdana really quickly before extending his hand toward his counterpart. _"and i'm san. sans the skeleton."_ As soon as their hands met, the room was filled with the all-too-familiar sound of a whoopie cushion deflating. Verdana erupted into giggles, along with the other two children. The alternate Sans, however, felt his pride and joy leave his body.

Both Sans and Papyrus said in sync, "The old whoopie cushion in the hands trick. It's ALWAYS funny!" They both grinned at each other and chuckled.

 _"_ _PAPYRUS! YOU'VE ALREADY RUINED A NEW FRIEND!"_ Alternate Sans said with a frown. Then, he tilted his head in confusion at Sans, _"HMMM, YOU LOOK EERILY FAMILIAR, FRIEND… AND WE HAVE THE SAME NAME…"_

Sans shrugged. Verdana squirmed a bit, wanting to be let down. Sans obeyed and put her down on the ground as his alternate version looked at her, _"WOWIE, AND YOU HAVE ANOTHER SKELETON WITH YOU. ARE WE RELATED?"_ He asked with his normal cheer returned.

"I-i dunno…" Verdana said nervously. Sans' doppleganger just stroked his chin for a moment.

 _"_ _NO MATTER. FRIEND OR FAMILY, YOU'RE ALL IMPORTANT TO ME! MWEH HEH HEH!"_ He laughed, _"I KNOW, HOW ABOUT SOME OF MY WORLD FAMOUS TACOS!"_ He exclaimed with joy as he ran off into the kitchen.

Sans turned toward Papyrus, _"his tacos aren't edible, are they?"_ He asked with a hint of worry.

Papyrus shrugged, "Meh… He's getting better though…" He said, still leaning against the wall.

Sans sighed, _"alright, but we're gonna need to work in a lab soon to try to figure this all out."_

Papyrus stopped leaning against the wall for a moment and peered into the kitchen, "Hey bro, I'm gonna bring my new short friend and his little sis out to Muffet's. Alright?" He asked with a smile.

While working on the tacos in the kitchen, he shouted over his shoulder, _"WHY… YOU KNOW WHAT, FINE… JUST BE BACK IN TIME FOR DINNER… OR AT LEAST BED TIME…"_

Papyrus nodded, "You know I wouldn't miss that." He said with a smile as he turned back to Verdana and Sans, extending both hands towards them, "C'mon, take my hand. I know a shortcut…"

Verdana nodded, taking hi hand. Sans shrugged and did the same. As soon as they said that, the three of them vanished from sight, leaving Frisk, Asriel, and Chara behind in the living room while the other Sans cooked them a not-so-gourmet meal of tacos.

* * *

They reappeared inside a building that seemed unfamiliar to Sans, yet had a weirdly familiar feeling to it too. Then it hit Sans, they were in the equivalent of Grillby's however it had a noticeably different atmosphere to it. The walls were a lighter shade of purple with occasional cobwebs, and up front by the counter was Muffet. What was even weirder was the fact that all of the usual patrons were there. Sans saw Lesser Dog, Greater Dog, Dogmy, and Dogeressa, but they weren't playing poker and were simply enjoying some pastries.

 _"_ _ya come here often?"_ Sans asked, looking up at Papyrus. He let out a chuckle and nodded before leading the two 'foreigners' to three stools at the counter.

Papyrus turned towards the two other skeletons, "So, what do you both wanna drink?" He asked.

"A l-liquid," Verdana said.

Papyrus laughed, "Absolutely! I'd be afraid if you were asking for a gas."

Sans chuckled, "I'll just have a bottle of Ketchup."

Papyrus gave him a funny look, "We aren't ordering our food yet, Sans."

Sans simply shrugged, _"yeah, i know."_ He turned toward Verdana, _"what about you? wanna ketchup too? milk?_ " Sans looked up for a moment, _"spider cider, maybe?"_ He added.

"M-milk," Verdana decided on. Sans smiled and nodded, turning toward Papyrus to see if he got it.

Muffet approached them now, "So dearies, what would you like to drink?"

Papyrus smiled and nodded, "Muff, we'll have one… ketchup." He said, still curious about Sans' choice, "One milk, and I'll take a honey."

Muffet giggled a bit, "Of course dearie, coming right up." She said before she walked into the back to grab their drinks.

Papyrus turned in his chair to look at the pair, "So… you want me and Undyne to help send you back home?" He said slowly and quietly, so as no one else in the parlor heard him.

Sans nodded, _"yeah, we'd appreciate it."_

Papyrus sat there in silence for a moment, "And you said… that Gaster made this machine that sent you here. Was it the one in our basement, or did we successfully bring him back?" He asked again, in a more serious tone.

Sans turned toward him a bit, getting more serious himself. For the first time, Verdana saw Sans without both of his pupil and heard him spoke with no humor in his tone. She was a bit scared. _"i brought him back… it wasn't easy though..."_

Papyrus nodded, "I'd like to know how… I'll devote time and resources to help bring you home… but you're gonna have to tell me how you did it in return."

Sans brought his pupils back, illuminating his eye-sockets but remaining serious, _"like i said pal, it wasn't easy. i... made some mistakes that i'll never forgive myself for on the way. i... hurt some of the people i love…"_ He said with some sadness creeping into his tone. Verdana turned to her brother, hugging him. Sans accepted it, bringing a small, weak smile to his face

Papyrus turned toward them, both eye-sockets now dark as well, "You should also know how desperate I am to return him as well, just as I'm sure you were."

Sans sighed, _"the machine should work… but it is too unstable. no power source can adapt quickly enough to its demands…"_

Papyrus' pupils returned as he nodded, "Yes, I know. I've figure out the problem, not the solution."

 _"_ _you need a soul of purity to power it."_ Sans finally answered. Papyrus' expression lightened a bit in curiosity and confusion.

"Purity…? I don't believe our Queen has gotten one of those souls yet…" He said in thought. "How did you get yours?"

Sans chuckled quietly, _"well… we waited. for six months."_ Papyrus just stared at him, waiting for him to continue and elaborate. _"the kid… chara for you, they faced the ruler of the kingdom, and before they could do anything to the barrier… gaster took them… for six months."_

Papyrus didn't look happy, "Six months without the kid… that means… after six months, another kid fell down with this 'Purity' soul?"

Sans sadly nodded, _"and as we both know, his time in the void has… well, changed him for the worse. It was real hell trying to get the kid back… but we did."_

"I see…" Papyrus said, looking away from them. They sat in silence once more for a moment before Muffet returned with their drinks. She put a jar of honey in front of Papyrus, a glass of milk before Verdana, and put a bottle of ketchup in front of Sans.

"Anything else dearies?" She asked. Papyrus looked at them for a moment before looking back to Muffet. "How about just three Spider Donuts for us. Don't wanna spoil dinner too much." He said with a smile. Muffet giggled and nodded as she returned to the back to retrieve the donuts.

Papyrus lifted his jar and began to drink the honey as if it were a normal drink, gaining weird looks from Sans and Verdana. "What?" He asked with a smirk. Sans simply shrugged and grinned as he returned his attention to the bottle of ketchup before him.

Verdana shrugged, sipping her milk. Nice and strong bones for her.

Papyrus only gave a quick curious glance toward Sans as he drank his ketchup before returning to his own drink. The three of them sat there, drinking their drinks, for a moment before Muffet returned and put a single donut before each of them. "Enjoy dearies." She said, smiling at them, smiling a bit wider at Verdana.

Verdana shyly smiled back, nibbling the donut and humming happily at the taste. Both Papyrus and Sans enjoyed their donuts as well. After a few moments of silence were spent eating the donuts, Papyrus spoke up, "Welp, guess it's time to head back. After dinner we can go see Undyne." He stood up off his stool and turned toward Muffet, "Just put it on my tab." He said with a smile. Muffet rolled her eyes but still maintained a smile.

Verdana motioned to Muffet to come over to her so she could ask her something. Muffet walked over to the little skeleton, "And what can I do for you, dearie?" She said, smiling.

"H-how much was m-my stuff?" She whispered to the older girl.

Muffet smiled a bit wider at the little skeleton, "Don't worry about it dearie, Paps pays up… eventually. Hehehe…"

Verdana left a couple G on the counter anyway, before scurrying off to where the two older skeletons were waiting at the door. Muffet picked up the gold and smiled a bit wider as the three skeletons left through the doorway.

* * *

Suddenly, the three of them were walking through Papyrus' doorway from his room into the hallway upstairs in his house. The other two skeletons were confused for a moment, looking at him for a moment. Papyrus simply shrugged, "It might be best to keep the number of people knowing about you to a minimum." He said with a smile. Sans shrugged as he followed Papyrus back downstairs.

"Y-yeah, t-t-that's why w-we went to a public bar," Verdana commented innocently.

Papyrus chuckled as they descended, "Have you seen a dog's attention span? They've likely already forgot about it. Plus, Muffet's cool."

"T-there were other customers t-there," Verdana reminded him. Papyrus shrugged, "Meh, I've tried hard enough today." Sans chuckled, silently agreeing with this version of Papyrus.

Verdana shrugged, and went to where the other kids were. Now at the bottom of the stairs, the three, newly arrived, skeletons saw the scene before them. Frisk and Chara were getting along alot better as they both giggled to each other while sitting atop an angry Asriel. The other Sans was still in the kitchen cooking. Asriel saw the skeletons arrive and sent them silent pleas for help.

The two older skeletons shrugged, chuckled at his misfortune, and collapsed onto the couch together to take a nap. "W-where's Asriel?" Verdana asked, ignoring him, sitting… right on him, between the two humans.

Frisk laughed a bit louder as Chara turned to Verdana, "I d-don't know. One moment he w-was teasing Frisk, t-the next he v-vanished." She said, stuttering a bit in her shyness but still trying to play it off.

"W-well, we'll get to the _bottom_ o-of this eventually," Verdana whispered to the two. Both Frisk and Chara laughed for a moment longer.

Frisk pushed Chara gently, getting her attention, "This is Verdana."

Chara's eye's widened before she reached out and hugged Verdana with a smile, "H-hey Verdana. Frisk t-told me about you. Y-you're s-so cool…" She said.

Verdana froze, face alight with her strange blush. Frisk noticed and giggled… and unfortunately for them, Asriel noticed and used all the strength he could muster to roll over. This caused Frisk to fall off one way and the other two to fall off in another direction. Chara landed on top of Verdana. "Whoops." Asriel said with no hint of regret in his voice.

"S-sorry about that." Chara said as she noticed the new arrangement she was in. VERDANA . EXE has crashed. Please call text support.

Chara got up and looked at the immobile skeleton in confusion. She ran over to the older Sans and shook him lightly, waking him up from his nap.

 _"_ _huh, what's wrong kiddo?"_ He asked.

Chara pointed at Verdana, "I… I think she's broken…" She said. Sans looked over and chuckled, _"did you try turning it off, waiting 30 seconds, and turning it back on?"_ He asked, which confused Chara even more. She shook her head, causing Sans to shrug agains before returning to sleep. Chara just puffed out her rosey cheeks in annoyance and ran back over to Frisk and Asriel.

"Um, guys… I think I broke Verdana…" She said, once again pointing to the immobile skeleton.

Frisk and Asriel looked at each other as a smirk grew at the same rate on each of their faces. Asriel stood up, "Don't worry, I'll fix it!" He said as he rushed over to her side.

The younger Chara turned back to Frisk, "W-what happened to her?"

Frisk giggled a bit, "She gets embarrassed easily…" She said, smiling.

Chara nodded, "Ohh… like you did when you talked about someone named Alex?" Frisk froze and covered her face as she rolled into a ball. Chara giggled to herself before running over to Asriel and Verdana, wondering how it was going over there.

Asriel didn't seem to have made any progress. He was nudging her on her side, trying to be gentle, "C'mon Verdana, you can't just freeze up every time Chara does something cute." Chara knelt down beside Asriel and tilted her head at him in confusion. What'd she do that was cute? All that happened was she fell on her after Asriel was rude and knocked them all off of him. Then she thought of Frisk and the embarrassment she was talking about and slowly began to come to a conclusion.

"D-does she l-like me?" Chara asked in confusion. Asriel looked at her and suppressed a laugh, "N-no…" He began, "She's just… tired, yeah. Today has been very exhausting."

"B-because you landed in the snow?" Chara asked, tilting her head in thought.

"What? How'd you…" Asriel began. Chara looked at Papyrus for a moment to make sure he was still sleeping and then looked toward the kitchen to see if Sans was still cooking. She turned back to Asriel and whispered only loud enough for him and Verdana to here.

"I'm n-not supposed to s-say anything, b-but I'm a t-time traveler." She finally said, looking completely serious, but still expecting Asriel to laugh and call her a liar like some others had. "A-and I s-saw you sleeping, but I w-went back in time and ran home." She said.

Asriel nodded and smiled, as if he completely believed her, which brought a happy sigh out of Chara. Asriel spoke again, "B-but yeah. That made her tired." He explained, looking back down at the skeleton before them.

Her blush seemed to be dying down slowly. Asriel pointed a paw at her, "S-see, she just needs to spend some time on the floor to rest." He said confidently. After a few more minutes, Sans came out and announced that dinner was served, but not before yelling at both his guest and his brother for being lazy.

 _"_ _YOU LAZY BONES, WAKE UP! YOU CAN'T EVEN USE YOUR 'SLEEP' EXCUSE BECAUSE IT IS MUCH TOO EARLY STILL!"_ Sans yelled from the kitchen, stirring Papyrus and Sans awake. is still rebooting…

Sans got off the couch and looked at Verdana with a smile, but still a bit surprised to see it taking so long to recover this time. He shrugged before picking her up and holding her in his arms once more. Now with her in his arms, but still rebooting, he sat at the table as the other Sans put a plate of tacos in front of everyone. There were many extra chairs at the table for the guests.

 _"_ _BONE APPETIT!"_ The other Sans said before shrieking in horror, _"NOOO! PAPYRUS, YOU HAVE RUINED ME WITH YOUR HUMOR!"_ He exclaimed before running back into the kitchen for more tacos. Papyrus and Sans chuckled before eating their tacos, both very thankful for being able to stomach bad food, no pun intended.

The kids, on the other hand, weren't so lucky. Frisk and Chara ate one of their tacos and were able to mask their pain. Asriel, on the other hand, rushed upstairs to the bathroom after his first. Chara and Frisk, after smiling to each other and grinning, put both of their second tacos onto Asriel's plate, making it appear they finished while Asriel had two more. Sans and Papyrus chuckled at this.

Just as the alternate Sans returned to the table to express his joy that his friends and brother had eaten his tacos and enjoyed them, Sans looked down to see how Verdana was holding up. _"hey verd, you done rebooting yet?"_ He asked with another chuckle and wide grin.

She nodded a little, not moving from his lap. Sans grinned and nodded, _"yeah sans, your tacos are incredible. i'm gonna taco 'bout them to all my friends."_ He said with a wide grin. Papyrus was grinning as well, while the other Sans responded, _"THANK YOU, FRIEND. THEY ARE, AFTER ALL, QUITE A-..."_ He shrieked, _"NOOOOOO, NOT YOU TOO!"_ Everyone at the table laughed.

Verdana started eating her taco… and seemed to have no problems at all, even humming a bit. Asriel, who had just returned to the table, stared at her in awe. Just looking at the tacos again was making Asriel's stomach growl in protest, telling him NOT to eat another. He saw the three tacos on his plate and frowned, shuddering for a moment before glaring at both Chara and Frisk, both of them refusing to make eye contact with him.

Verdana tilted her skull, before reaching over, 'eating' those three as well. Asriel silently thanked her as the alternate Sans was beaming, now with literal stars in his sockets. _"WOWIE, I NEVER KNEW I HAD SUCH A BIG FAN OF MY COOKING!"_ He said with absolute glee. Sans and Papyrus chuckled, Papyrus enjoying seeing the skeleton happy, and Sans was reminded of his own relationship with his brother. He held Verdana a bit closer to himself for a moment and smiled down at her, happy he had at least one sibling with him right now.

Verdana smiled, wrapping her tail around the two of them and hugging him back. After dinner, the younger, bluer Sans sat down on the couch with Chara beside him as they watched another of Napstaton's shows on TV.

Verdana motioned to the bigger skeletons, before sneaking upstairs. The skeletons followed her up the stairs as Frisk and Asriel got caught up in the show for a moment. Both Sans and Papyrus were curious as to what the little skeleton was going to show them.

"I c-came up with a l-little t-trick… y-you know h-how we're skeletons?" She asked.

Sans shrugged and smiled at her, _"gee, sis, it's like you see right through us."_ He said, chuckling but still watching her.

Ignoring that, she continued. "W-well…" She trailed off, before a green bubble floating down from her ribcage… with the tacos from earlier inside. The skeletons watched it closely, intrigued.

"J-just in c-case you n-need to eat a-anything else… 'special'," She told them, having the food go back up into it's hiding spot. Papyrus nodded and smiled, "Thanks little skele. That's a neat trick."

Giggling a little, she went back downstairs. Papyrus walked over to the doorway as Sans forced the other two kids to get up and walk over there with him as well. Papyrus, with the guests all standing behind him by the door, spoke, "Hey bro, I'm gonna walk our guests home, alright?"

The other Sans stood up and looked completely surprised before dashing over and tackling Papyrus in a hug, " _I KNEW ONE DAY MY GREATNESS AND MOTIVATION WOULD RUB OFF ON YOU BROTHER. I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!"_ He said, smiling with all the joy in the world. Papyrus patted his brother's back.

"Thanks bro. And I'll be back in time for the bedtime stories."

Chara flashed him a smile from the couch as the other Sans rejoined her. Papyrus turned back to the 'guests' and wrapped his arms around their backs as they walked out the door, disappearing into the scenery as they warped away from Snowdin.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _Part One of Two. Be patient, the next part comes out tomorrow... just because I'm nice...  
_**

 ** _Here's an update. As I said last time, there's been a family issue, so I got back from vacation, uploaded last chapter with my little thing about a break, and then later on that evening... my grandfather passed away. I will have a few more updates this week, but no new writing is occurring for a bit as I will be spending most of my free time with family this week. Thank you everyone for the kind words. Once everything settles down, I'll be writing more. Luckily for you all, I have the next few chapters already completed and ready to upload. Hope you enjoy..._**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	14. Swaps are Wierd (pt 2)

The world reformed around them as they looked to see where they all now stood. They were right inside the Lab in Hotlands, although the decor within the lab was much different than their own world's was. The wall had lots of anime posters on the wall and the large screened-monitor was not monitoring them, rather it was watching the skeleton household, which was where Chara currently was.

Suddenly, the elevator door that had a bathroom sign on it opened up to reveal Undyne stepping out of it. Her red hair was brushed over one of her eyes and she was lacking her eye-patch. She also wore Alphys' signature white lab coat and glasses with a pair of black boots. She began to walk towards the monitor before shrieking and falling onto her butt. Needless to say, she was caught off guard by the several individuals in her lab that were not here earlier.

She caught sight of Papyrus in his usual orange coat, "P-papyrus? W-what a-a-are you doing h-here?" She asked, stuttering much like Alphys does.

Papyrus shrugged, "We needed a sciency second opinion, so we thought we'd come to you…" She quickly looked over her new guests. She saw Sans, except he didn't seem like the Sans she knew. He was much too quiet to be him. She saw a human in similar appearance to the first fallen child, Frisk, which sent up a few red flags. She saw the goat-child that normally follows Alphys around, and then she saw the little skeleton girl beside Sans, whom she'd never seen before in her life.

"U-u-umm, h-hello?" Undyne stammered out to the new guests.

Sans held up a hand, _"sup undyne, i fish you'd calm down a bit."_ He joked. 'Nope, definitely not her Sans', she thought.

"U-uh, Papyrus… wh-what's going on…?" She asked, clearing wishing to be in the loop.

"Well, the previous royal scientist before you was erased from existence, but then in another reality he was revived, and then he created a machine, but that machine exploded and sent these guys here, and now they wanna go home." He said nonchalantly.

Undyne froze in her place trying to comprehend the huge load of information dropped on her at once, phrased as if it was nothing out of the ordinary. "W-well, I-I U-hhhh…" She tried to speak, but wasn't very successful. Then she began to rapidly freak out and run in place for a second, "Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh! It's… it's just like that anime I saw last week! Where the hero was sent to another dimension, and had to deal with alternate versions of his friends, but they, like, totally thought he WAS their friend. And they had to help him get back home even though no one believed him except for this one version of his friend that loved him, but he didn't love her back until near the end, but the whole thing is like a powerful message about friendship and… uh…" She smiled awkwardly, "S-sorry, I g-got c-c-carried away, d-didn't I?!"

Papyrus shook his head, "Don't worry about it Undyne, but you're right… except for the love and not-believing part." He said.

Undyne smiled weakly, "S-so, you're a-all from another r-r-reality?" She barely asked.

Frisk jumped to the side, "Yep." She popped the 'p' in her response.

Sans ruffled her hair, making her giggle, as he turned back to Undyne, " _so, think you could help us?"_ He asked.

Undyne began stroking her chin slowly, "Hmm, w-well, if a m-machine malfunction s-sent y-you here, th-theoretically, a-all we h-h-have to do is c-create another s-similar blast to r-reopen the portal."

Sans and Papyrus nodded in sync, completely understanding it. Papyrus spoke first, "Of course, why didn't I think if that. We just need another, similar, magical energy pulse."

 _"yeah, but that'd take a lot of magical energy to create a similar blast."_

The three, scientifically inclined adults began to brainstorm possible ideas while Verdana, Frisk, and Asriel all stood there, not sure what to do. Then, Frisk shouted, "The Core!"

All three adults turned toward her and became quiet. Frisk felt a bit awkward with everyone's attention gathered on her. She finally spoke up, "Y-you said you needed a lot of energy. Well, doesn't the Core power the entire Underground?" She asked. Sans and Papyrus facepalmed in sync as well.

"U-u-um… t-that's a b-bit dangerous, though, right?" Verdana asked.

Sans and Papyrus both looked slightly uncomfortable with the idea, but Undyne didn't see their expressions, "W-well y-yeah, th-that could w-w-work. There w-would be more th-than enough power th-there."

 _"yeah, but verd's right. if we set off a blast near the core, there could be some negative consequences."_ Sans said. Papyrus nodded in agreement, while Frisk frowned and tried to dig the toe of her shoe into the ground while staring at the floor. Asriel threw one of his arms around her and brought Frisk in close for a comforting hug.

"W-w-we could j-just w-wait for Daddy… I-i'm s-sure he's fixing t-the machine t-to get us back," Verdana said.

Papyrus nodded, "It seems without a safer option, it may be best to wait it out." He agreed.

Frisk looked up suddenly, "W-wait! I got it!" She exclaimed, surprising everyone around her. She looked over to Sans, "S-Sans, didn't you use the legendary artifact in w-waterfall to amplify magical energy to bring me and Gaster back?" She asked, hopeful.

Sans snapped his fingers, _"of course, that might work…"_ Then he looked back at Verdana for a moment before responding in a more somber tone, _"...but we might as well wait… knowing g, it'll only be a matter of time till were back."_

"B-but what if when we were sent here, someone else was sent somewhere else? If we go back quicker, Gaster could just try to open a portal to them, saving time." Frisk countered, not wishing to stay still and just 'wait it out' like they were suggesting.

 _"frisk... there's too many variables. let's just wait."_ Sans tried.

Frisk clenched both her fists as she began to get angry. She shouted, "Just 'cause you're lazy and don't care doesn't mean I'm just going to stand here and listen to you!" Sans' pupils disappeared and his smile faded.

 _"frisk…"_

"NO SANS! I'm done waiting. What if Alex is in trouble? What if Papyrus is in trouble? Do you just not care!" She shouted even louder, her voice echoing in the lab. Sans' smile was completely gone.

 ** _"kid…"_**

"If Papyrus gets hurt, or Alex gets hurt because we didn't actually DO something, it'll be your fault! Do you you NOT CARE ABOUT THEM!? Do you not CARE ABOUT US?!" Frisk's soul turned dark blue as she was lifted off her feet into the air, Sans holding her there, completely ignoring everyone else's shocked reactions.

Asriel tried to leap up to grab Frisk, but Sans turned his soul blue as well, increasing Asriel's gravity and forcing him to lay on his back on the cold tile. **_"you think i don't care?!"_** Sans said, menacingly, voice echoing in the lab.

Verdana stepped away from her brother, scared of this side of him. Sans ignored the movement, **_"let me tell you something, brat! i care more than you'll ever know! i care so much, i would rather die than be forced to watch anyone else i care about share gaster's fate!"_**

Sans brought her back to the ground quickly, but influencing her gravity to force her to her knees as he continued, completely ignoring the fact that his sister was now nowhere to be seen, **_"you think this is easy?! sitting around and watching the world spiral out of control?! knowing that at no point do you have any sort of control on the situation?! knowing that in an instant, everything you care about can, and will, be taken from you?!"_**

Tears were forming in both Sans' and Frisk's eyes as he released her from his magic. She fell to all fours and began to sob as Asriel ran over to try to comfort her. Sans turned away from her, closing both eye-sockets. _"i'll be back later… watch the kids for me…"_ And with that, Sans vanished from the lab, leaving behind a group of monsters and a human, all confused and scared of what just occurred.

* * *

Sans had already reappeared and arrived at his preferred destination. He was sitting at a table, in a darker room in Hotlands, with a familiar flaming monster serving him a burger and ketchup. Luckily, he brought some G with him in his pockets and was able to purchase the meal. But… he wasn't really hungry, he just needed some time in a place that was familiar and comfortable… and this was close enough.

"How's the food, sir?" Grillby asked. That was another thing. Sans wasn't used to Grillby talking so much. _"sure, yeah. it's great, just… worried…"_ He said. Luckily, Grillby left him alone for the moment and he was back to his thoughts.

Man… what had he done? He really messed up this time. He definitely shouldn't have freaked out on Frisk that way… but it got to him. They both got caught up in the heat of the moment. And… Verdana. Now that he thought about it, he watched her freak out and storm off while he was yelling at Frisk. Now he felt really bad, making her feel that way. He held up his head with both hands for a moment, listening to anyone that was talking.

He heard a nearby monster talking, "Did you see that weird skeleton in Waterfall? My cousin was walking by and saw her running by, sobbing. Poor thing…" Sans sat up straight in his chair, hearing that. Verdana…

Without thinking he stood up, pocketed the rest of his food, left some G on the table, and vanished from sight, heading to some part of Waterfall.

* * *

Sans arrived beside the glowing water. It was oddly serene here. He remembered spending a few hours here on and off, just watching the glowing water flow by and the crystals glow on the ceiling far above. He decided that this place would be as good a place as any to start his search. He looked around the silent environment, listening carefully for any sounds. Luckily, at this hour, there would be relatively few monsters walking around.

It took him a while, but eventually, he started to hear sobbing. He ran as quickly as he could toward the sound, quickly approaching the source. He found her, in all of the places she could have been, in the piano room. She was in a corner hidden by the entrance, curled into a ball with her tail wrapped around herself and the rest of her in her jacket, yet was sobbing loud enough to be heard from a ways away.

Sans walked in the doorway and knocked twice on the door frame, loud enough to get her attention.

The sobbing abruptly cut off, her seeming to freeze. Sans smiled weakly, _"heh, you're supposed to say who's there but… i'll give ya a break."_ He said sadly as he walked over toward her. He bent down slowly, knee caps now touching the ground. _"you... alright verd…?"_ He asked.

"Y-y-you s-s-scared me…" She mumbled, only the fact that sans was trying to listen to her letting him hear her.

He smiled weakly still, " _yeah.. i know, i'm sorry about that… i just…"_ He looked away for a moment before speaking again, turning back towards her, _"i don't want to lose anyone i care about…"_ He finally said.

Verdana's head peeked out of her Jacket, and he saw that her cheek-bones were… pretty tear-stained. Like, the green of the left and multi-color of the right may just be part of her now. He sighed, _"i really hate seein' ya cry…"_

Verdana, hesitantly, un-turtled herself, hugging him. It caught him off guard for a moment, before he wrapped his arms around her as well, his smile growing a bit in strength. "C-can y-you p-promise n-not to be s-scary anymore?" She innocently asked.

He looked at her and frowned for a moment before smiling, _"how about this? i promise to only get scary when i protect you from a bad guy?"_

"O-okay," She agreed, sniffling a little, tail wrapping around her and him. His smile fully returned as he hugged her back.

 _"i'm sorry for scaring you like that."_ He stood up, bring her back to her feet as well.

She didn't seem to want to walk, because she soon wrapped her legs around him. "I-it's okay… b-but for being scary, you g-gotta carry me more." Verdana said in an adorable 'serious' voice.

He chuckled before complying, _"alright, fine. now, let's go… i know a shortcut."_ He said with his characteristic grin. They vanished from the puzzle room in Waterfall, once again leaving it empty and quiet. The only sign of their presence left behind were footsteps and drying tear drops in the ground.

* * *

They reappeared in Undyne's lab in Hotlands. Sans looked around the slightly different scene in the lab. Undyne was at the monitor scrolling through the various camera feeds, Papyrus was leaning against the wall, deep in thought, and Asriel and Frisk were no longer inside the lab. Papyrus was the first to see the other two skeleton's arrival.

"Sup Sans. Sup little skele. We've been kinda bonely without ya." He said with a little snicker following it. Undyne looked up and rolled her eyes.

 _"hey, sorry about freaking out earlier…"_ Papyrus smiled weakly and nodded, "I know how you feel, but you should be apologizing to Frisk, not us."

Undyne nodded hesitantly, "Y-yeah. A-and I was r-running the numbers, and it s-seems like the artifact m-might work on opening the w-w-wormhole for you…" She smiled weakly and shyly.

Sans looked around, _"hey, where did the kiddos go?"_ Papyrus simply nodded, motioning toward the door with his head, smiling as he remained against the wall smoking another cig. Sans nodded, and turned toward the door behind him, then looked down to Verdana beside him, _"you didn't happen to grab the artifact while we were over there, did ya?"_

Verdana nodded her tear stained skull timidly, holding it out to him. Sans grinned and tossed it toward Undyne haphazardly. It landed with a thud on the table beside her, making her jump in fear and shriek, "AHHhhh!" She turned toward Sans, who was smiling, "C-could you m-m-maybe not?!" She asked rhetorically while she tried to recover.

Sans shrugged, _"anyway, be back in a moment, gonna go check on the kids and apologize."_ He said, walking toward the exit, Verdana following him. He walked outside into the heat of Hotlands with Verdana closely behind him. Sitting a bit away were Frisk and Asriel with their backs toward the lab.

Sans walked up closely with Verdana in tow, approaching the pair. As they approached, they noticed Frisk and Asriel were talking to another monster. They couldn't see it yet, but could hear them talking.

"I- I was o-only trying to h-help." Frisk stuttered out. Asriel had an arm around her, trying to comfort her for a moment.

"o-OhS! iS oK! skELeTEm pRObAblY iS Vry ScaRED!" They both heard a Temmie barely manage. Sans was kinda confused hearing a Temmie in Hotlands though. "yOU iS GoOd HuEMin tHouh." It managed again. Sans looked at Verdana to see if she was just as confused as him as they approached the three of them.

Sans arrived right behind them, _"heya frisk. heya asriel."_ He said quietly, just trying to get their attention. They both turned around to look at Sans. There were still some tear marks on Frisk's cheeks. Sans' smile vanished.

"I-i w-wonder, w-who s-swapped with a Tem…" Verdana idly questioned beside me.

Temmie rapidly shook her head, "nO noS! TeM is JeSt teM. Tem ouTTa Tem!" Sans watched the Temmie closely, also feeling as if something were wrong here.

Frisk wiped her face, trying to get rid of her own tear-stains, "H-hey Sans. I-I'm sorry a-about pushing you l-like that…" She said, apologizing. Sans ignored the Temmie for a moment and shook his head slowly with a frown.

 _"no kiddo, i'm sorry for losing it there for a moment and not considering how you felt. i just… i don't want a repeat of what happened to g."_ He said with a weak smile. Frisk jumped up from her spot on the ground and rushed Sans with a hug, as she smiled, bringing a smile back to Sans' face.

Temmie shook her head, "NooooOOo, thAT'd be VAry Badd!" She exclaimed, agreeing with Sans as if she knew exactly what he was talking about. Sans narrowed his sockets at Temmie.

Asriel jumped up now and hugged Sans as well, joining in with the group hug. Sans just chuckled before looking to Verdana to see if she was going to join in. She did so, but looked at Tem with suspicion in her sockets. The innate Justice in her told her something wasn't right here.

Temmie spoke up while they were all hugging, getting their attention, "oh Oh, TeMMiE have iDa!" They all looked at the Temmie, Sans not expecting anything smart for Temmie to follow up that statement with. Temmie used one of her legs to point at Frisk, "Use FRIend FrISk, nD uSe SoUL poWeR to Go hoOm!"

The four of them now looked at Temmie with confusion. Sans used some of his magic to push the three kids behind him as he continued to stare at the Temmie. "C'Mon SanSy. FWIends?! RemeMbWer?!" She said in a completely innocent tone. Sans was starting to connect the dots on who this Temmie likely was.

"M-maybe i-it'd work…" Verdana mumbled. She didn't trust the tem for a second, but the idea had merit.

Temmie nodded, ignoring the look Sans was giving her, "YaY yAY! tEM kNOws hoW. Can ShoW U! JusT neED 1 sOul!" She continued, pointing at Frisk again. Frisk backed away a bit, not wishing to share her soul with some weird Temmie.

 _"sorry pal, but no. the sole user of that soul is frisk only."_ Sans answered, maintaining eye contact with Temmie. Upon hearing the stupid pun Sans attempted, Temmie's stupid smile faltered for a second.

Verdana seemed on edge. Suddenly, Temmie's eyes turned entirely black as she made a hideous, scary face. "TeM No Ask 4 PermisSHun!" She exclaimed in an angry tone before she leaped at the four of them, aiming for Frisk before freezing midair with a blue aura around her. Sans' left eye was glowing with blue flames.

 _"hmm, you remind me of a certain weed i used ta know."_ Sans said as he held the Temmie in the air. Asriel's eyes were wide with fear, seeing the soulless abomination before him as he recalled his own time spent like that. Frisk gripped his paw tightly to comfort him. Sans moved his arm and held Temmie above the lava far below them for a moment. Verdana sent her blaster next to the Tem, blaster ready to charge.

"No no! TeM Can NO ResET." She said loudly and quickly, before looking at Frisk with pleading eyes, trying to look as innocent as she did before, "B-beST FwiENds ForWever FwIsk?! RemEember?!" She quickly added.

"I-i think you have t-the wrong Frisk…" Verdana told the Tem. Suddenly, a more orange aura appeared around the Temmie as well, as Papyrus stepped out of the lab and approached the group, "Hmm, thought I heard something…" He said with a smirk.

Temmie's two front paws stretched out somehow, trying to cover her ears, "No NO no! toO cOMedIAns?! TeM wuSrt niGHtMAre!" She screeched. Sans and Papyrus let out a quick "heh" as they saw her squirm in their magical grasp.

Verdana had her blaster bite on the back of tems shirt, dragging her away in the aura. Temmie's menacing look reappeared, "no NO! TeM no FoRGEt dIS!" She screamed as she was pulled away. The little skeletal girl had her blaster toss Tem back into Waterfall before quickly returning to Verdana's side.

Sans pat her on the back with one hand while high-fiving Papyrus with the other. They both chuckled for a moment before Papyrus spoke, "Sorry about Temmie… she's quite a nuisance…" He said with a serious frown for a moment before his smile returned, "But I came out here to tell you that Undyne is already almost done with a prototype energy blast device in there." He said, pointing over his shoulder.

Frisk jumped up and down with excitement before grabbing Asriel a bit tighter by the wrist and running off back inside, dragging him along with her. Sans, Papyrus, and Verdana simply walked slowly together back inside, knowing there was no real reason to expend that much extra energy. It was literally like ten feet away.

* * *

Upon returning inside, they found a few large rings attached around the Legendary Artifact, which all connected to a laser-like device by several cables. Undyne was still tinkering with it and putting the finishing touches on the device that was not there a few moments ago. Undyne looked up as they all came inside.

"O-oh hey, I'm al-almost f-finished here. Th-then we can t-t-test it and get you all h-home." She said, still smiling a bit shyly and weakly, but a bit stronger than before.

Verdana looked excited, smiling. Asriel looked at her in confusion, "Wait, how'd you do this so quickly?" Frisk laughed and looked at him like it was a stupid question for a moment before realizing he was serious.

She dug into her pocket and pulled out her super-complex smart phone, showing it to Asriel, "Alphys back home, she made this in, like, five seconds." Asriel's eyes widened as he mouthed the word 'wow'. Frisk simply laughed again at his amazement.

"Good work, Doctor Undyne." Papyrus said with a smile, looking at the machine before him. Sans looked at the machine for a moment and nodded in agreement with Papyrus. The machine looked pretty great.

"W-well, a-all it'll do is make a-an explosion, w-which should exploit the w-w-weakened barrier between world t-temporarily." She said, explaining how it should work.

Sans rubbed his chin, _"i see, so it'll reopen the portal for a few seconds before closing again?"_

She nodded, "B-but, it w-will also f-f-fix the exploit, making the ma-machine operational, b-but useless after its first blast." She informed them, meaning this same technique wouldn't work again to easily send them home.

Frisk asked, "So, we can go home now? Is it ready?" She said excitedly, looking between Verdana and Undyne, ready to see everyone else soon.

"W-well… I could f-fire it up n-now, if th-that's what you all want?" She promptly received nods from all of the guests. She nodded, "A-alright. St-step back!" She warned as she began preparing the machine to fire.

Frisk and Asriel obeyed, taking a few steps back from the machine. Papyrus simply vanished from his spot, reappearing against another wall. Sans held Verdana's hand tightly as he took a step back to get out of the way, Verdana squeezing back in nervous excitement.

The red orb in the center of the machine began to glow brightly, bathing the entire room in a red glow. It grew brighter and brighter before the light began to travel the rings and into the cables toward the barrel of the device on the end. Suddenly, a small orb of red energy slowly left the end of the device and hovered in place a few feet from the device. The surface of the orb of energy looked unstable, as if it could violently erupt in an instant. Then… it did.

A sonic boom went off as papers scattered and flew around the room. Now, floating in place of the energy orb, was a large unearthly, black crack in reality, as tall as the room, but slowly shrinking. Undyne pointed at it quickly, "I-it's closing. Y-you b-b-better go now!" She yelled. By the time she said this, the crack had already shrunk to three-quarters of its original size.

Frisk and Asriel, as excited as they were previously, were now hesitating. Sans reached out an arm toward them, turned both souls blue, and threw them through the shrinking vortex before they could react. As soon as he did that, he quickly reached down and picked up Verdana, holding her in his arms. _"hold on tight."_ He warned quickly.

He then turned toward Papyrus and Undyne, _"thank you so much for the help, and i hope you get g back too."_ Papyrus nodded with a friendly, genuine smile as Sans took off and dove through the vortex, which was only a couple feet wide now. The world around Sans and Verdana flashed many amazing colors for a moment before they exited the vortex on the other side.

"T-t-trippy!" Verdana shouted, clinging to Sans.

* * *

Sans and Verdana exited the vortex in the center of Gaster's lab, the floor bearing many scorch marks that likely appeared when the portal exploded. The Lab was still a wreck, but was in slightly better shape that it was earlier. Sans looked around to see three Gaster Blasters with purple eyes before them, ready to attack in a nanosecond. However, after a moment, they vanished.

 ** _"S-sans? Verdana?"_** Gaster stood before them in a ruined lab coat and weary eye-sockets, but they immediately brightened upon seeing them. Sans put Verdana back down as he looked around to look for the other kids, who were currently wrapped up in a tight embrace with Toriel and Asgore. Before anything else happened, another sonic boom occurred behind them as the temporary vortex collapsed.

Verdana lept at Gaster, hugging him, wrapping her arms and legs and tail around him. He quickly wrapped his own arms around her as well, **_"Ohh, I was so worried about you!"_** He said with a large, happy grin. Then, it vanished for a moment, **_"Wait… Verd, where's Alex? Or Chara? Or Paps and Undyne?"_** He asked with a hint of fear in his voice.

Asgore and Toriel broke off their group hug with Frisk and Asriel to look at Gaster as he said that. Worry filling both of their eyes and quickly spreading to Frisk's and Asriel's. Toriel's voice was wavering, "W-where are my other children?" She asked as tears began to form, but Asgore quickly wrapped her in another hug to comfort her.

"T-t-they w-weren't with us…" Verdana said.

Frisk looked around, "W-we thought they were with you!" She asked, starting to panic.

Gaster shook his head slowly, frowning still, **_"I was afraid of this… It seems that the blast separated you all into two separate groups."_** He said. Sans and everyone else looked at the where the portal used to be.

The portal was, no doubt, completely destroyed from the blast, but the frame was rebuilt and the machines around it were looking fairly repaired. Alphys was working on them still, not even noticing that everyone had arrived due to her diligence. Gaster sighed, **_"She's… she's been a wreck since Undyne went missing…"_** He said sadly.

Mister Sower walked back into the room with a tray of four large coffees, which he nearly dropped upon seeing half the people had returned. "W-welcome back guys! I'm so glad you're ok!" He said with a smile as he placed the tray on a nearby counter, which faded when he realized some people were still missing.

Sans looked confused for a moment, _"not to be rude or anything, but why's he still here, dad?"_

Mister Sower's smile returned a bit, "I might not be a tech savvy as Dr. Gaster or Dr. Alphys, but I'm doing everything I can to help… even if it means getting some fuel for a long night of work." He added, motioning toward the coffee.

Gaster nodded in agreement, stroking Verdana's skull slowly. She looked up at him for a moment, which was the first time he's seen her face since she left. He frowned upon seeing the stains on her cheekbones. He rubbed it gently with his thumb, **_"Verd… what happened? Are you alright?"_** He asked.

"I-i'm fine… S-s-sans and F-frisk j-just had a… a-argument… a-and I got scared and r-ran away," She told him.

Mister Sower interrupted the moment, "Hey Doc, not to interrupt your moment with your daughter, but shouldn't we focus on getting the rest of them back?" He asked with an apologetic tone. Gaster shot a look to Verdana and Sans, that silently told them they were all going to talk later, before nudging Verdana off of him gently as he went back over to the machines.

Gaster nodded to Mr. Sower, **_"Yes, yes, you're right."_** He turned toward Asgore and Toriel and smiled at them, **_"With all of these guys back now, it'll be only a little longer. We're almost ready to launch the device."_** He said as he put some more calculations down into his computer. Without looking up, he spoke to everyone else, **_"If you'd be so kind as to wait in the other room while Jordan, Alphys, Sans, and myself finish up the machine."_**

The Dreemurrs nodded and began to exit to one of the lounges in the lab to wait. Gaster turned around and motioned for Verdana to do so as well, flashing her a smile. She nodded, timidly going into the other room. She should probably try to wash her skull soon…

The three doctors and singular teacher went back to work, piecing the machine back together and recreating several parts of the coding for it to function. Hopefully, wherever the others were at, it was someplace not too dangerous…

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **And that is the end of Underswap. Now that half of our heroes have returned safely, it is time to rescue the other four. Where did they end up? Are they still alive. Am I still asking questions that I already know the answer to? Well, stay tuned for answers. Next upload will likely be on Thursday. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, cause I really enjoyed the Undertale x Underswap interactions and stuff. If you liked it, consider favoriting the story, following it, or leaving a review/PM. No pressure though... Also, got a question for me, even with my hectic life right now, I may have some time to reply to a PM. Hope you enjoyed!  
**_

 _ **-swrWriter**_


	15. Fells are Scary (pt 1)

**_Quick Author Note: Lots of cursing and violence here. (Not that you didn't already know that.)_**

* * *

Undyne was on guard the entire time, thanks to the years she spent in training to be the head of the Royal Guard. In fact, somehow, when the explosion sent them through time and space, she managed to land on her feet after doing a sick flip in the air. She couldn't help but smile to herself after she pulled that off. After landing on her feet, she quickly noticed she was standing in some snow, which made her frown considering it wasn't cold enough for snow yet on the surface.

She looked around her surroundings to see where they now were. One minute she was helping her girlfriend and her boss hold some stupid geek thing together, the next it exploded and sent everyone near it flying. Now, she frowned as she noticed the nearby river with ice blocks and the tall black trees around her. She now realized they were just outside Snowdin, right next to the entrance to Waterfall… in the UNderground. But then, she noticed something peculiar… the sky, err air was dark red and menacing.

She narrowed her eyes for a moment, still frowning. Now she was confused, she never saw the Underground like this before… then again, it could very well have looked this way since everyone moved out. She'd have to remember to ask Alphys about this weird geek stuff when she got back home. Finally sighing, she sat down in the snow for a moment to look at her sleeping friends around her.

Papyrus' top half was submerged into a pile snow, which made Undyne chuckle a bit, and she saw Alex and Chara napping, face down, in the snow. She quickly got up and approached the pair of humans. She didn't know much about human anatomy yet, but she figured sleeping face down into the cold snow was not good for a human's health. She picked up the two dorks with little-to-no effort and put them on their backs beside her as she sat back down.

She only had to wait a few moments before Papyrus' legs began to move wildly as he began to freak out. She laughed a bit louder this time as he struggled to free himself, which he managed to do after a few moments. He fell onto his butt and looked at Undyne beside the sleeping children. He looked around the scenery in confusion, also noticing they were near Waterfall and Snowdin.

"WOWIE. UNDYNE, HOW'D WE GET BACK UNDERGROUND?" He asked, for some reason having a large smile on his face while asking, as if he didn't have a care in the world.

Undyne shrugged, "Beats me. Maybe the explosion opened one of your brother's shortcuts?"

Papyrus narrowed his eyes for a moment and shook his head, "I TOLD HIM HIS LAZINESS WOULD CAUSE US PROBLEMS!" He sighed, "WHEN I GET HOME, DAD AND I ARE GOING TO HAVE A STERN TALKING-TO WITH HIM!" He said confidently, hitting his open palm with a fist.

Undyne managed a smile, "Heck yeah. When we're all done with him, he'll never be lazy again. FUHUHUHUHUHU!" She laughed, before dashing to Papyrus and noogie-ing him.

"AHHH, DON'T NOOGIE THE SKELETON!" He shouted in terror as she refused to relent. Finally, the noise woke up the other two children.

Chara held her head, "Ahhh, that hurt…" She said, using her other hand to gently rub the back of her neck.

Alex nodded, "Yeah, w-where are we?" He asked in confusion, looking around and seeing the red in the air.

Undyne let go of Papyrus as he stood straight up, "WORRY NOT ALEX, IT SEEMS THAT MY BROTHER'S LAZINESS HAS SENT US TO SNOWDIN! WE JUST NEED TO GET BACK TO THE SURFACE!" He said with a large smile.

Alex continued looking around and thinking before he gasped, "W-wait!" He said, Chara stared at him in confusion. "What?"

Alex shook his head slowly, "I don't think we're in our Underground. I think we're in someone else's." He said slowly. Chara widened her eyes in realization. Papyrus remained oblivious.

"WOWIE, I DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS A SECOND UNDERGROUND. I CAN'T WAIT TO MAKE NEW FRIENDS!" He began pacing back and forth in excitement, but Undyne grabbed his wrist before he could go anywhere.

"No Papyrus, it seems we went to another dimension." She said, Alex looked at her in confusion, wondering how she caught on so quickly. She narrowed her eyes at Alex, "Hey! I can be smart and nerdy too!" Alex narrowed his eyes back at her, making her scratch the back of her neck, "...a-and Alphys and I just watched an anime about this sort of thing…" She finally said in defeat, lowering her head in a moment before bringing it back up with a large grin.

"ANOTHER DIMENSION FULL OF FRIENDS? EVEN BETTER! NYEH HEH HEH!" He said triumphantly.

Chara shook her head, "No Papyrus, some dimensions don't have… 'friends'. Some are dangerous with bad people." She tried to say simply enough for Papyrus to understand.

"WELL, THEY MUST NOT HAVE A VERSION OF ME HERE THEN! OTHERWISE EVERYONE WOULD BE FRIENDS AND THERE WOULDN'T BE ANY BAD GUYS!" The other three shook their heads, but still smiled due to his infection enthusiasm.

Alex spoke up in curiosity, "So, what should we do then?"

Undyne looked up and squinted at the red around them, "I'm not sure if this means it's getting late or not, but back home it was…" She pointed toward the entrance to Waterfall over her shoulder, "Why don't we go to my old house and chill there." She got a slightly menacing gleam in her eye, "And if anyone shows up and has an issue with me and my besties, they'll have to go through me!" Chara smirked a bit while Papyrus and Alex gave a more gentle smile and nodded in agreement. They group of four proceeded to enter Waterfall, heading towards Undyne's house.

* * *

The walk through Waterfall was… odd… to say the least.

The first monsters they saw confirmed that this was not their own Underground. This fact became even more well known when they got a look at the monsters. They seemed… edgy… malicious… violent. After the first encounter at the beginning, they did their best to sneak around without being spotted. Somehow, despite Undyne's and Papyrus' personalities, they managed to make it to the town in the center of Waterfall without incident.

Now, before them, was Undyne's house, sitting there and looking very familiar. It looked almost identical to the one at their own Underground.

"Hey, Undyne… what if we meet a counterpart version of you? Won't they be mad?" Alex asked, kinda now not wanting to stay anywhere for an extended period of time.

"Pfffftttt! Nah, don't worry about it. Besides, if we do see a doppelgänger, we'll convince her to be ok with it."

"And if not?" Chara asked, eyebrows raised.

"Then we'll beat her to a pulp until she's ready to make nice with us!" She said with a large toothy grin, fist-in-hand. She walked up to the door and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. "Crap, it's locked!" She said, a bit angrily.

"So? I've seen you in action. Kick down the door!" Chara said, still wondering why Undyne hadn't tried that yet.

Undyne frowned and lowered her head a bit, sighing, "I would… but there's a problem. You see, I had a small temper issue where I'd destroy my door rather than try to find my key… so I made a custom door that even I couldn't break down!" She smiled awkwardly a bit, realizing maybe she shouldn't have done that.

Alex stoked his chin, "Wait, but if this is a different reality, wouldn't the door be breakable here?"

Undyne shook her head, "Maybe, but when I tried to open it a moment ago, I felt the door's strength. There's no doubt in my mind that this version of me did the same thing… wait…"

Undyne turned toward Papyrus with a big toothy grin, "Hey Papyrus, I've got an idea!" Papyrus stayed uncharacteristically quiet, not responding. Undyne remembered her mistake, and reached up to take the duct tape off of Papyrus' jaw. "Sorry about that Papyrus."

Papyrus shook his head, "NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE UNDYNE, THOUGH I WILL ADMIT, THE DUCT TAPE WAS HIGHLY UNNECESSARY!"

The other three shushed him quickly, "Sorry Papyrus, but we did that so you'd be quiet. No hard feelings, though, right?" Alex asked. Papyrus, keeping his mouth shut this time, smiled and nodded.

Undyne now pointed to the side of her house, "Hey Papyrus, remember the 'date' you forced upon me with Frisk?" Papyrus nodded, "You think you could stick the landing going in reverse?"

Papyrus beamed, nodding quickly before running around the side of the house and out of view. Not two seconds later and they could all hear the sound of glass shattering as Papyrus entered the house. A few seconds later and the door opened with him standing in the door frame, victorious.

Undyne silently cheered before ushering everyone inside and closing the door before anyone saw them. Now, with the lights on, they all sat at the table, trying to think of their next move.

"I think we need to wait it out. I'm sure Dr. Gaster is working on a way home right now." Alex said, trying to keep everyone calm. Chara nodded in agreement.

Papyrus stood up, "YES! I'M SURE DAD WILL BE HERE TO HELP US IN NO TIME! WE SHOULD JUST WAIT!"

Undyne sighed, "Yeah, yeah… That probably sounds like the best plan. We'll stay here until we find some way home." She paused and looked around, "Why don't you all get some sleep while we wait, Papyrus and I will keep watch in case someone comes by."

Papyrus narrowed his eyes, "YES… SLEEP…"

Undyne frowned and shook her head, "Yes Papyrus. Sleep." She didn't need to tell Alex and Chara a second time. They were both drifting off to sleep on the table, tired from their fighting and arguing earlier. Undyne smiled at their sleeping forms, and that's when she noticed Alex's wrist. It had that weird device Gaster talked about on his wrist, that had three bubbles on the bottom of it. For some reason, one was empty, but the other two were filled with an odd, dark blue liquid. Undyne sat down at the table beside Papyrus as they waited, hoping they wouldn't be stranded, wherever they were, for much longer.

* * *

Undyne was awake! ...And now had a small headache forming. She had somehow been drifting off to sleep at the table until her arm gave way and she smashed her forehead into it. She began rubbing her forehead lightly, "Ahh… Shit…" She said, frowning from the still-fresh pain.

Papyrus was up too, looking at a TV, flipping through the channels for something to watch. For some reason, he wasn't able to find much of Mettaton's shows, and the ones that he did find looked like they deserved higher maturity ratings. Then, he noticed Undyne was awake again, as he smiled at her. "HEY UNDYNE, HOW'D YOU NAP?!" He asked, his smile returning now.

Undyne was about to respond, but paused for a moment to stand up and clutch her head in pain. Stupid freaking headache… "UNDYNE, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Papyrus asked, a bit of concern in her voice.

"Papyrus, shut the fuck up and leave me alone!" A voice from outside shouted, loud enough to be heard clearly through the door.

Papyrus frowned, putting both hands on the hips of his 'Battle Body' in the form of fists, "REALLY UNDYNE? THAT WAS RUDE! AND WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE AROUND THE KIDS!" He said, motioning towards them.

Undyne's eyes widened as she ran over to them and quickly shook them awake. Before either of them could complain, she promptly said, "Shut up. There's someone outside!" Her voice in a loud whisper.

On cue, the door began shaking as the person outside began to try to open the door, to no success. After all, Undyne had thought ahead and barricaded the door shut. This seemed to only piss off the person on the other side even more.

"GodDAMMIT! FUCK!" The door began shaking violently now, as if the other person was trying to break down the door. "Papyrus, did you take my fucking keys AGAIN?!" There was a short pause before she screamed again, "Well, my key isn't working!"

Undyne, Papyrus, and the kids remained, all of them preparing to fight if need be. Whoever was on the other side of the door, whatever version of Undyne they might be, she doesn't seem friendly. Magic began swirling around Chara's hands in preparation. Suddenly, the door shook wildly once more as the outsider attempted to get inside. She began to scream in frustration.

"I swear Papyrus, if you don't get your ass down here ASAP, I'm going to fucking kill you!" This seemed to get the attention of whoever was on the other end of the phone as they heard a 'beep' through the door, signaling the end of the call.

Then, her phone began to ring. She picked it up again, on the other of the door, although when she picked it up she spoke a bit softer into the receiver. "Yeah, what's up Alph?"

The voice remained silent for an entire minute, the longer it went on the more Alex and Chara began to sweat. Then, it hit Alex… Didn't Alphys have cameras all over the Underground… Alex's question was promptly answered with an angry scream.

"WHAT? ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!" She swore before banging on the door again, cracks now slithered their way up the door, threatening to buckle inward despite the several reinforcements. "Open the fuck up NOW you pieces of SHIT! I don't care who the hell you are, but… when I GET IN THERE…!" She didn't have to finish the sentence. Everyone knew what she would likely do to them.

Also, she didn't have to finish her thought because their Undyne decided to act first. And by that, I mean Undyne broke the door down from the inside and barreled outside, running over whoever was standing there. Papyrus, Chara, and Alex followed suit, running outside to follow their companion. Unfortunately… they found two…

Undyne stood there in a defensive pose, single eye and mouth open wide, staring at her doppelgänger. The other Undyne stood there in shock as well, her red hair was longer and more chaotic than the original while she wore a more badass version over Undyne's armor. The more corrupted version of Undyne quickly noticed the other three individuals as they came out of her house. She looked pissed.

Soon enough, her expression of shock turned to one of anger and rage. Her mouth let out a snarl and her red eyes locked onto the foreigners before her. "What. The. FUCK!?" She screamed.

Unfortunately, it seemed the law of the land here was to kill first and ask questions never. She held out her right hand to her side and a large red spear formed in her hands. "It doesn't matter. All I know is this!" She extended her arm towards the enemies before her, the spear in her hands pointing at them. "In this world… IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED!"

The entire world blinked between existences as the familiar feeling of Battle Magic appeared before the humans, turning the world monochrome.

* * *

 ** _[Cue: Underfell- Spear of Agony (by: Jeffrey Watkins)]_**

Battle Magic filled the surrounding area as a haunting music began to play. Similar to how Undyne's music was, this one reminded you of it except for the spookier and more dramatic tone of it. There was no time to appreciate it since the battle was beginning. Standing side-by-side, you and Chara prepared to FIGHT.

You pulled out your Clavicle while Chara pulled out her Worn Dagger, which was now glowing with red magic enveloping the blade. Undyne summoned forth her own 'bluer' spears while Papyrus hesitantly summoned white bones around himself. You'd all rather avoid fighting, especially to the death like the red Undyne wanted, but it seemed impossible for the moment.

You nodded as the familiar options popped up before them. The 'menu' as it was referred to. At least SOME things stayed universal. The menu popped up in anticipation of your choice.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***CHECK TAUNT TALK BEG**

 ***Undyne ATK 70 DEF 85**

 ***ErRoR dEtEcTeD.**

You and Chara instinctively took a step back, looking at the display in confusion. This had never happened before. Suddenly, the menu began to glow red as red cracks began to form and quickly spread over the entire 'menu'. Another message popped up, unnerving you even more.

 ***gOoDbYe ChArA. gOoDbYe AlEx.**

It changed again, as the cracks filled most of the screen now.

 ***ThIs IsN't YoUr StOrY! tHiS iS yOuR dEaTh! ENJOY! =)**

The 'menu' dissolved into dust as the color of the world flooded back in. Everyone could feel the limiting Battle Magic dissipate, but the music kept going. And the other Undyne didn't look like she cared about that. All she cared about was your death.

Suddenly, the ground all around you turned blood red with circles of the red being darker than other. On instinct, you dive to the side, rolling in the process, right as dozens of red spears shoot out of the ground where you were previously standing. Undyne had used her own 'bluer' magic to counteract her counterpart's, shielding herself and Papyrus from harm. Chara had the same idea as you and dove in the other direction, also avoiding the attack.

As you got back up to your feet, you barely reacted quick enough. You brought your boney blade up to parry a strike from the red Undyne's spear in her hands. You stood there, weapons clashing and held in a momentary stalemate before she tried an underhanded strike, summoning spears beneath you. Unable to move in time, Papyrus turned your soul blue and threw you to the side before the spears hit.

As you stood to the side, returning to your feet, you witness the clashing of spears. Blue on red. Darkness against light. A true heroine against a true villain. Undyne held a blue spear in her hands against her counterpart's red spear. They held together as if glued together, forming a perfect stalemate as both versions grunted and yelled in frustration of the other.

"NYAAAHHHHHHH!" Even without her amazing Royal Guard armor, Undyne proved to be just as powerful. What happens when an unstoppable force meets and equally immovable object? That question was just answered during the clash. Papyrus watched it in awe for a moment before Chara rushed forward, attempting to stab the counterpart in the back.

Before anything else happened, you focused, closing your eyes and trying to imagine the menu reappearing before you. After a moment of concentration, it reappeared, although faintly. It appears that using the 'menu' for a 'turn' now requires a break, rather than forcing one like before. It popped back up as Chara jumped on the evil Undyne's back, the blade unable to fully pierce her thick armor. This revelation stunned and surprised Chara enough to be thrown off, making you turn your attention back to the 'menu' before it disappeared again.

Perhaps she needs some mercy?

 **[FIGHT] [ACT] [ITEM] *[MERCY]**

 ***SPARE FLEE**

 ***You spare Underfell Undyne.**

 ***The word 'Underfell' confuses you just as much as sparing her confused your opponent.**

After a moment, both Undyne flew a few feet backwards as the clash ended in a tie. The 'Underfell' Undyne let out a booming laugh at your 'mercy', as if it were the funniest thing she'd ever heard. "Really now? You don't fucking understand anything, do you? There is no mercy here! So fight or die!" She said just as she lunged at you once more.

You quickly side-stepped as she went by, summoning dozens of red spears around her. She smiled wickedly as she sent them flying at the four of you. Each of you dodged or blocked successfully as she came closer. Chara wasted no time trying to give her mercy like you did. In her books, if she was willing to kill you, she should kill them first. This time, the red Undyne's spear in her hands met Chara's blade in her own. Another strong clash occurred, red energy and magic flared from both weapons, sending the two of them flying in opposing directions.

Papyrus jumped over and caught Chara midair, landing back on his feet as he unsummoned the bones in his hands. He looked up at the other Undyne, "EXCUSE ME, BUT I THINK THIS IS JUST A MISUNDERSTANDING!"

The evil Undyne shook her head while continuing to smile, "I think it's time to shut the fuck up!" Papyrus' eye sockets widened in fear as he heard this, having never been told that before kinda hurt him. She just laughed upon seeing his reaction. Had she no soul?

Undnye ran over and promptly delivered a hard fist to her counterpart's face, sending her flying a few feet back and into a nearby wall. The counterpart's smile turning into a grimace instantly as Undyne spoke in rage, "Shut the hell up! Leave Papyrus alone you asshole!" She summoned two blue spears, one in each hand, as she prepared for further combat.

Just as the counterpart pried herself from the wall, you felt something very wrong in your soul. Instinctively, you reached a hand over and pressed in the second bubble of you bracelet. In just a second, you were filled with Pure Integrity.

You turned just as more red magic formed in the distance. Filled with dark blue magic in your soul, you turned Papyrus and Chara's soul blue and you propelled them to the side as several sharp red bones flew through the air, narrowly missing them. The opposing Undyne smirked as she was joined by another 'corrupted' and dark monster.

This new one looked eerily similar to Papyrus in his 'battle body'. However, this armor was less of a costume and more of an actual set of black, red, and gold armor. The counterpart Papyrus's teeth were razor sharp and his skull had a crack on it. He smirked as well as he summoned a set of red boney blade into his hands.

 **"CAPTAIN. IT APPEARS WE HAVE SOME INTRUDERS…"** He said, turning to the other Undyne. She smirked and nodded as she summoned her weapons. As they prepared to attack again, you managed to raise the 'menu' once more. Perhaps you could do something.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK TAUNT TALK *BEG**

 ***You beg the merciless monsters to spare you and your friends.**

 ***How pathetic. =)**

They both shake their heads. "I'm afraid this is the end." The other Undyne said.

 **"YOU MUST STILL BE CONFUSED. WHY WOULD WE SPARE WEAKLINGS LIKE YOU?"** He paused a moment before looking over towards you and Chara beside you before speaking again, **"It's free EXP."** His smirk grew wider and more menacing as they two of them charged.

Papyrus summoned some white bones as well, putting a pair in his hands just as they met shaper, red bones in the alternate Papyrus' hands. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? CAN'T WE ALL BE FRIENDS?" Papyrus innocently asked as his counterpart slowly pulled a hand back to hit Papyrus.

As this was happening, Undyne and her counterpart clashed again, this time resulting in a less balanced clash as the counterpart held her at bay with a single arm as the other prepare to stab Undyne in the gut with another spear. Chara dashed over and caught the other spear with her knife. Together, Chara and Undyne repelled the counterpart's attack for a brief moment.

You ran over to Papyrus' aid and clashed against the red Papyrus' bone, preventing an unfair end to the fight. They were really playing dirty, weren't they? You knew you had to help Papyrus. As powerful and strong as he was, he had never fought someone with the intent to kill. You could clearly see his apprehension to fight back, using only defensive strikes and magic.

You turned your attention away from Chara and the two Undyne to focus on the two Papyruses in front of you. Just as the UF Papyrus swung at Papyrus, you used the last of the blue magic within you to turn his heart blue and slam him against the cavern wall. He grunted aloud as he hit it hard. You knew it wouldn't do much to him, but it would at least stall him for a moment. As he was trying to recover, you felt the last of the second dose of Integrity drain out of you.

Papyrus tried to reason with his counterpart again, "PLEASE. WE DO NOT WISH FOR VIOLENCE! WE SIMPLY ARE LOST!" If the counterpart had even heard Papyrus' plea, he ignored it as he recovered. You turned to the side to see how Chara and Undyne were doing. Undyne was panting heavily as her counterpart was currently in a clash with Chara, blade against spear. This time, both weapons surged with red magic, but sent neither of them flying as the magic began to build. Unfortunatly, Chara was slowly being overwhelmed by the UF Undyne's power.

You ran over to her side to help push Undyne off of her, using your own weapon to keep her on her toes. She bounced backwards lightly before dashing forwards again, clashing against your own blade. You looked over to Chara out of the corner of your eye to see her looking at you as she recovered. As your muscles began to feel fatigued against your opponent, you yelled, hoping Chara would listen.

"Help Papyrus!" She immedaitly ran over in his direction. Unable to look over, your heard the clashing of weapons from the general direction, signaling that Chara had arrived over there just in time. "Eyes on me, asshole!" The counterfeit Undyne bellowed in anger as you made and held eye-contact, "Think you can just break into my house like that? You had your chance at a merciful death, but now… NOW YOU'VE PISSED ME OFF!"

She pressed harder against you, leaning a bit to the left as the tip of her spear touched your shoulder. For some reason, it was red hot, immedaitly burning though your shirt and burning into your shoulder, eliciting a scream of pain from your mouth. "AAAHHHHHHHH!" You scream, putting all of your strength into throwing her off of you… but it wasn't fully successful. Instead, you used the small amount of wiggle room you made roll to the side out of the way. Something caught your eye.

 ***HP 12/20**

Before you could even wrap your head around the amount of damage that single small blow dealt, your eyes darted up to the other Undyne. She dashed towards you to finish you off, but she was cut off by Undyne, holding her at bay with another of her blue spears. After a moment, the clash swiftly ended with Undyne losing and flying through the air.

You couldn't think straight with the searing pain flooding your mind. You knew Undyne was holding off her counterpart while Chara and Papyrus were likely doing the same, but you couldn't move. Your soul ached. It hurt. It… It was being filled with some sort of emotion… some sort of magical trait that you've never felt before.

What… what was this feeling? Could it be the golden trait? You did not know. All you felt was… anger… rage… You were filled with **Pure HATE.**

You could not see it, but your soul now glowed pitch black with a shine to it. To the onlookers, it was frightening sight to behold. You felt such an unbelievable power flow through your veins. This… what was it called again… hate? It felt so powerful. So unbelievable. So… amazing! You felt a black aura cover your hands and blade as you suddenly surged forwards, clashing with the other Undyne.

This time, you more than matched her power; you surpassed her. Her single good eye locked onto yours and widened in surprise. Was that fear? You didn't know… more importantly, you didn't care. You just wanted to **end her miserable existence**. "I will fucking end you, demon!" You shouted, tone filled with hate. You pressed harder against her and her form went flying backwards into the rock face once more.

This time, she went harder and deeper into the carven wall, dazed for a moment. Undyne sat on the ground in shock and horror at what just transpired. Why? You just saved her. Why wasn't **she fucking grateful? After all the shit you've done for her.** You felt the rage inside build.

You suddenly saw Papyrus hit the ground hard as Chara held her blade against the other Papyrus' bone blades. You were ready to go over there, but knew you had no need to. Instead, you vanished and appeared beside the two people locked into combat, emerging from the shadows unnoticed. You knew **Chara was useless in battle. Just like you knew you had to,** you surrounded her form in darkness as she began to panic.

This panic led to the Papyrus doppelganger to send her flying, being just barely caught by Undyne, who continued to stay out of your way. You smirked for a moment, Undyne **was finally being useful and staying out of your damn way.** The other Papyrus turned his attention to you as you enveloped him in black magic, causing his sockets to widen in alarm. Before he could counterattack, you grabbed him by both of his wrists, holding the bones tightly.

You could hear crunching noises as cracks began to form along his bones. The black aura you surrounded him in now spread to his magical weapons like a cancer, turning them black as well. Just as they turned back, they began to exponentially decay, disappearing from sight within seconds. His expression turned to panic as you sent him flying into the rock face beside the other Undyne.

You smirked widely as both enemies began to crawl **like the miserable creatures they were** out of the wall. Both hands began to glow in black magic as you prepared to **end their meaningless existence**. That is, until suddenly you were pushed down by an unseen force behind you. It caught you by surprise. Did a third enemy enter the fight? You spun around midair as you landed on your butt. You could see who did it.

Looking down upon you was a female human holding a flower pot. She wore a red and black striped sweater as she looked upon you with her gorgeous brown eyes, piercing your very soul. You knew who this was… "F-Frisk?" You asked, feeling the hate leave your soul. She looked at you with a mixture of fear and disappointment, it hurt your soul worse than when the other Undyne struck you moments ago. She grabbed your hand quickly and dashed off with you close behind in a daze. A mixture of pain, sadness, and anger swirled around in your head as the world went black.

 ** _[End of Music]_**

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _Part 1 of 2 complete for Underfell. Seems like UF Papyrus and UF Undyne are out for blood. And... it seems Alex doesn't look good in black. Oh well, hope you enjoyed the first part. As another gift, the second part should be out tomorrow. Hope you enjoyed!  
_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	16. Fells are Scary (pt 2)

Alex woke up with a headache. He opened his eyes slowly as he groaned in pain, "Uhhhh, what happened?" He asked as he looked around. He was still somewhere in Waterfall, but did not recognize his immediate surroundings. He looked forward to see four standing figures before him. As his vision cleared, he could make out Frisk, Papyrus, Chara, and Undyne all looking at Alex carefully. This Frisk held a flower pot that appeared to be holding Flowey in it, but they all remained silent.

Alex tried to bring his hands in front of him to stand up but failed; both hands were tied behind his back by something. He looked up in a panic at the figures before him. He held back tears of betrayal as he tried to understand what was happening. Papyrus was the first to speak.

"GOOD MORNING ALEX. ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" He asked with a hesitant smile, as if he expected Alex to hurt him. What… what happened to all of them to make them afraid of him. Alex silently nodded as he struggled to keep his tears in check.

Undyne was far less calm than Papyrus, "What the hell Alex? You went all ape sh-crazy on us. You were glowing black and ready to kill them. You even hurt Chara!? What the f-!"

"Enough Undyne." Chara said flatly. She seemed to have a sort of wary fear in her eyes as she looked at Alex. Then, he remembered the black energy and magic that he used earlier. He… how did he do all of that. That… that wasn't him, was it? Alex was so confused. Undyne looked at Chara with confusion, wondering why Chara wanted her to stop.

Alex couldn't do it any more and let the tears roll down his face as he remembered everything that had happened. He… he hurt Chara, "C-Chara. I-I'm s-s-so sorry!" He apologized, barely holding himself together now. He had completely lost control of himself to the black Hate magic.

Chara frowned and sighed, looking at Alex sadly, "It's… It's ok Alex…" She turned to Undyne beside her, "Undyne, let him go. He's back." Undyne sighed and nodded with frustration as she removed her magic on Alex's soul. It lost the green color it previously had as he as released. He stood back up and held his arm lightly, gaining an interest in the floor as he stared at it.

Suddenly, Alex felt a large hand on his shoulder. As he looked up, he saw Papyrus' hand there as he looked upon him in concern, "ARE YOU ALRIGHT ALEX? YOU REALLY SCARED US." Alex breathed in and out deeply as he tried to calm down and stop crying.

"P-Papyrus…" Alex started. Before he could say anything else, Papyrus wrapped Alex up in a large embrace and held him closely. Alex let his tears go as he sobbed into Papyrus' damaged 'Battle Body'. Papyrus patted him lightly on the back.

"THERE, THERE… IT'S ALRIGHT ALEX." Papyrus said reassuringly. After a moment longer in the embrace, Alex's tears stopped and the embrace ended. Alex smiled weakly up to Papyrus, "Th-thank you Papyrus!" He smiled reassuringly back, nodding.

Alex turned his attention back to everyone else, still smiling weakly. "I-I'm sorry about what happened."

Undyne spoke up, "Hey, what even happened back there? One minute we were fighting an evenly matched battle, but then the next you started glowing black as you beat them to a pulp!" She said with a wide smile, fist in hand.

Alex shook his head, frowning, "I… I'm not sure. I… I think there was so much hate and anger coming from them and this world that my soul absorbed it. I… I couldn't really control myself until…" Alex tilted his head as he looked at the other Frisk, who was standing there and remaining quiet. "…Until I saw Frisk." Alex finished, pointing at her.

Chara looked over at Frisk, "Yeah, she said she heard the fighting and came over to stop it. She told us that King Asgore made "kill or be killed' the law of the land here. Right?" She asked.

Frisk nodded, still holding the flowerpot in her hands. The flower spoke, "Your damn right! Everyone is killing each other. They're being a bunch of idiots." Frisk took a hand and thumped one of Flowey's pedals. "Ow! Frrriiiiiisssskkk!" He whined, looking up at her, "It's true. The whole law thing is stupid!" Frisk nodded in agreement with a frown.

"S-so… now what?" Alex asked, still ashamed of his previous actions. Undyne stood up a bit taller as she took charge.

"Alright, well I'm sure the nerds back home are doing science things to get us home, so we need to continue to wait until they do it." She pointed to Frisk and Flowey, "Frisk told us that the other Undyne and Papyrus are searching for us, but we're safe here! All we have to do is stay hidden until we get some sort of signal that we can get outta here."

Chara grinned, "Wow Undyne, that's actually a pretty good plan! I'm surprised!"

Undyne grinned and laughed, "FHUHUHUHUHU! Of course! I am the ex-Captain of the Royal Guard for a reason!"

After a moment, they all took a seat and began to get comfortable as they waited. Even Frisk and Flowey took a seat, although they kept a small distance from everyone. But, it's to be expected when this world often repays kindness with death.

"So… you're from another, nicer world?" Flowey asked, tilting his 'head' as he asked.

Papyrus nodded, "YES! MY FATHER WAS WORKING ON SOMETHING WHEN WE GOT SENT HERE, BUT I'M SURE EVERYTHING WILL BE ALRIGHT." Papyrus narrowed his sockets for a second, "YOU KNOW, THE PEOPLE'S OPINIONS HERE SEEM RATHER… MURDERY…"

Undyne nodded and narrowed her own eye, "Yeah, what the heck is up with that?" She motioned toward Flowey, "I mean, in our world, it was only you who was spewing that bull!"

Flowey narrowed his own eyes at this, "Yeah, da- I mean King Asgore decided to make everyone kill each other to make us stronger. If you ask me, it's pretty stupid!"

"So, everyone just excepts that killing is now a part of life?" Chara questioned, holding back a bit of irritation.

Flowey bobbed his head a bit in a nod, "Yep. Most monsters here accept it. And it doesn't help that the Royal Duffuses enact the law on the other monsters." Flowey used a leaf to motion to himself and Frisk, "Frisk and I are trying to get outta here, and she's been showing mercy to all of these idiots!"

"So, she's gained no LV or EXP?" Chara asked. To her relief, Frisk nodded, confirming that she had not gained any. Chara breathed a sigh of relief, "Good… As much as they don't deserve mercy, I've been learning the importance of it. That's good." She relaxed a bit in her spot.

Alex, who's remained quiet the entire time, spoke up, "So, we're just going to relax here for a bit, then?" Everyone nodded.

They all sat there in silence for a few minutes before anyone decided to speak again. Suddenly, a loud noise echoed throughout the entire Underground. It sounded almost like a sonic boom in the distance. The foreigners all stood up with wide eyes as they heard this.

Flowey spoke, "What the heck was that?"

Alex's eyes widened further, "That… is our ride home…"

Flowey's eyes, somehow, widened now, "Well, if we don't hurry more than just you all will go to your home."

Frisk bolted to her feet, "I think I know where it came from!" She said, urgency coating her tone.

Undyne nodded, "Lead the way, nerd!" She said with a large smile, summoning a blue spear in her right hand. Frisk nodded confidently and took off down a corridor with the other following close behind.

* * *

When they arrived at their destination, everyone recognized where exactly they now were. All around them was the familiar glowing water canals in Waterfall, although it was not quite as bright as normal. They all looked around for only a moment when they saw what they were looking for. On another bank, across some water, was a tear in reality.

The redish-purple rip in the fabric of reality floated a few inches off of the ground. The four of them knew what was on the other side of this spinning vortex, and were relieved to see it after being trapped here. Unfortunately, they were not the first to find it.

Standing between them and the vortex were two familiar figures: Undyne and Papyrus. No, not the ones beside Chara and Alex, but they more evil, redder versions of them. What did the 'menu' call them again? Underfell Undyne and Papyrus? Sounds about right.

Both of their backs were toward them as they examined the portal, likely deciding whether or not they should go into it.

"Oh crap, this is not good." Flowey said quietly. He turned to the foreigners, "Well? What are you all waiting for? Get your weapons and stop them!"

"Can it Flower, we will!" Undyne said, summoning an additional spear in her other hand.

Papyrus hesitantly summoned a large bone-like staff that he held with both hands. Papyrus smiled and looked at Flowey, "THANK YOU FLOWERY! THANK YOU OTHER HUMAN!" Frisk closed her eyes and nodded with a large, friendly smile on her face as she nodded. Flowey rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah, no problem."

Chara pulled back out her dagger as it began to glow red. She looked to Alex, "Ready Alex?"

Alex slowly nodded and hesitantly pulled out his sword. "Wh-what if I absorb Hate again and lose control?"

Chara rubbed her chin for a moment, "You still have and trait substance in that bracelet of yours?" Alex looked at it and nodded. "Well, save it in case you feel like you are losing control, then use it to try to overcome hate with Integrity."

Alex smiled warmly and nodded, "Thanks Chara…" He looked at Chara for a moment, "Hey Chara. I just want you to know, I'm sorry for teasing you so much about Verdana."

Chara sighed and smiled warmly back at him, "It's alright. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for doing the same to you and Frisk… Now, let's go home."

Undyne looked down at the two humans, "You nerds ready to party?"

"A PARTY? I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO FIGHT?"

Undyne rolled her eyes, but luckily the humans got the message. They nodded confidently. "Alright then. Let's go kick our asses!" She said as they all ran over to their doppelgängers as Frisk and Flowey ran into another room so as not to be killed in the crossfire.

As they all approached the doppelgangers, they world attempted to go to monochrome, but failed as the battle magic was still being suppressed by some unknown entity that had it out for them. Instead, the two Underfell enemies turned around to confront them as an eerie battle music began to play…

* * *

 ** _[Cue: Confrontation of the Dead (or Spear of Agony if you'd prefer that…)]_**

You got into a fighting stance while gripping the sword tightly with both hands. You'd really not fight, but it seemed like that wouldn't be an option here. The Underfell Papyrus and Undyne smirked as if you'd just told them a joke.

 **"OH LOOK UNDYNE, THE COWARDS HAVE RETURNED FOR ROUND TWO!"** The other Papyrus said, punching his open hand with a fist as he summoned countless sharp red bones behind him.

The other Undyne chuckled while summoning a similar array of red spears, "It seems like they're finally ready to die!"

You and Chara, side-by-side, concentrated while they spoke, forcing the 'menu' to appear before you.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***CHECK TAUNT TALK BEG**

 ***Underfell Papyrus ATK 65 DEF 80**

 ***Underfell Undyne ATK 70 DEF 85**

 ***I think that it's time to die, so stop wasting time! =)**

As the last message popped up, the 'menu' dissolved while the two enemies flew through the air towards you. Undyne met her counterpart, dashing in front of you and clashing her spear against the other's. Papyrus did the same, using his large bone staff to clash against his counterpart's dual red bones in his hands.

The clashes were perfectly matching, this time Undyne and Papyrus were holding their own against their counterparts despite the differences in EXP, DEF, and ATK. Undyne turned her head slightly away from the doppelgänger and towards you and Chara, "You two! GO! Get out of here!"

You and Chara hesitated for a moment before agreeing and running toward the vortex. The other Undyne wasn't having any of this. She screamed, "NYYAAHHHHHHH!" as countless red spears shot out of the ground before you. On instinct, you dove towards Chara, pushing her out of the way as the spears shot up, one of them puncturing straight through your arm.

"AAHHHHHHHHH!" You screamed in pain as you felt your HP plummet. The spears vanished as Chara ran over to you.

"Oh, oh shit, ALEX!" She began to panic. She looked away from you for a moment as she used her knife to slice a few bones out of the air that were shot at you.

"ALEX, ARE YOU ALRI-?" Papyrus began to ask before he went flying into the water nearby, his doppelgänger having used the distraction to overpower him in an instant. Undyne screamed in rage, overpowered her redder version of herself and stabbed her in the shoulder with her blue spear, melting her armor in the process.

Undyne used this moment, as the other version bellowed in pain, to kick her in the gut and sending her to the ground. She took this opportunity to run over to Papyrus and help him out of the water. "Papyrus, you alright?" She asked as she brought him back to land.

"NYEH… NOT REALLY…" He said in a small daze. Other than a small amount of damage, he was mostly ok. "WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST BE FRIENDS?" Papyrus asked his doppelgänger.

The other Papyrus laughed, **"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? THIS WORLD DOESN'T NEED FRIENDS! IT NEEDS WARRIORS. SOLDIERS. AND A SOLDIER GIVES NO MERCY TO THEIR ENEMY!"** He then sent an array of red bones towards the two monsters as Undyne summoned a wall of blue spears in front of her, blocking the attack.

Chara turned her attention to you, your arm now leaking blood profusely without a spear in it now. Chara reached into her pocket and pulled out half of a chocolate bar. Her red eyes combating tears as she looked upon you. "I-I need you t-to eat this, Alex. I… I can't lose y-y-you!" She begged as she unwrapped the bar and gave it to you.

You smiled weakly as you held back tears from the pain. You took a few bites of the half-a-bar while Chara defended you. After a moment, as the magical monster food absorbed into your body, you felt the wound close up a bit. It remained painful, and is currently bruising, but the bleeding stopped for the time being. You'd need more heavy-duty healing magic when you got home.

Chara turned back around and gave off a sigh of relief as she held out a hand toward you. Smiling a bit wider like her, you took her hand as she helped you to your feet. "T-thanks Chara." You said, she smiled and shook her head as she motioned to the battlefield. Now was not the time to forget about the battle.

You got up and barely brought your weapon up to defend yourself when the other Undyne clashed against your blade and Chara's, your combined might able to match hers for the time being. You used all of the energy you could muster in the heat of the moment to push her back with Chara's help. Chara sent you a glare, telling you to help Undyne, right before she leaped after your assailant.

You obeyed without question, running full force into the other Papyrus, catching him by surprise and sending him stumbling away as you help Undyne with your Papyrus. The surprised reaction also caused all red bones around you all to vanish as he lost concentration. Using this moment of freedom, you helped Undyne bring Papyrus back to his feet.

"Punk, watch Papyrus!" Undyne screamed as she ran at his doppelganger, clashing bone against spear as he recovered quickly. The bone and spear clashing against one another was nearly dead even. That is, only for a moment before Undyne's magic began to overcome the duel bone blades in his hands, cracks forming down the lengths of the bones. The other Papyrus only had time to give a confused **"NYEH?!"** before he was sent flying from the blast as him magic imploded from Undyne's power.

She was beaming proudly, showing off her toothy grin, which faded quickly as he recovered midair and landed on both feet. You turned to see Chara barely holding her own against the other Undyne. Papyrus looked at you for a moment, "DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME ALEX. GO HELP YOUR SISTER!" He said before resummoning his bone staff and charging over towards Undyne.

You nodded confidently before taking off, jumping onto the other Undyne's back. You felt the cold metal armor on your skin send shivers across your body for a moment, but you ignored it as you held on for dear life. The other Undyne was like an enraged bull, using all off her strength to try to get you off of her, distracting her for Chara. Chara used this moment to take her glowing red blade and stab the other Undyne in the shoulder blade between pieces of armor, allowing it to effortlessly get through the armor and stab her.

She bellowed in pain, finally shaking you off as you hit the ground hard. She turned and narrowed her eye at Chara before picking her up by her throat and holding her there tightly, not allowing the human to breath.

"You little BITCH! How fucking DARE YOU!" She said in pure rage, preparing to crush her throat. You reacted instantly, feeling darkness and power begin to seep into your soul. You wanted to fight it, but knew to save Chara, you might have to use a little bit of it. The darkness, the hate of this Underground… it filled you with Pure Hate.

You held the Clavicle tightly in your hands as you smashed the flat of the blade into Undyne's head. The momentum of the impact caused her to release Chara from her grip and stumble a step back. She was seeing stars for a moment before she turned her rage upon you. She summoned a legion of spears before her the threw them all at you.

The Hate flowing through your veins took over as you weaved in and out of the spears, making most of them miss you with only a couple simply grazing your arms, legs, and chest. You ignored the pain as your jumped up and kicked her in the chest, sending her a few feet further back.

Chara slowly got back to her feet as she gasped for air, her throat now beginning to form bruises as she looked around to see yourself and the other Undyne locked in combat. She looked over to see Papyrus and Undyne holding off the Underfell Papyrus too. She decided to run over to you, but became slightly wary when she noticed the black aura forming around your hands and soul.

You wanted to end this monster's pathetic life. After all, she wanted to do the same to you first. But… somewhere, deep down, you knew this is not what you wanted. You knew this wasn't who you were. As the redder Undyne began to rise to her feet once more, you managed to overpower the Hate within you. You reached over and pressed down on the final full bubble on your trait bracelet. The dark blue liquid quickly absorbed into you, flowing through your veins and clearing your head. You… were filled with Pure Integrity.

Your blackened soul faded into a shiny, navy blue color as you felt you mind become refreshed, dispelling all of the Hate that you accidentally absorbed. It was a good thing you had no EXP or LV, otherwise it would have been much harder to overcome Hate.

As this happened Chara rushed over to you with her dagger, smiling weakly at you in relief. You nodded as Undyne rushed back over to you, too quickly for you to react in time. Chara was suddenly punched upside the head with Undyne's metal-covered fist, sending her through the air and hitting the rock wall nearby, rendering her unconscious as her limp body hit the floor hard.

You cried out, "CHARA!", but she was unable to respond. As Undyne then proceeded to lunge at you, you used blue trait magic to push her back into another wall as she fell into the glowing water for a moment, who was soon joined by the other Papyrus. They both looked more dazed than damaged, and were likely only getting angrier and angrier at you all.

Undyne and Papyrus, weapons in hand, ran over to you and stood in front of you. They stood between yourself and the enemies. Undyne looked back at you, "Alex, get Chara and then get the hell out of here! We'll distract them!"

Papyrus nodded, speaking as he continued to look forward to keep an eye on the ememy, "YES. UNDYNE AND I WILL STOP THEM! WE'LL FOLLOW SOON!" You agreed silently as you ran over to Chara's limp form, her breathing was shallow.

You knelt down by her and saw how bruised she was right now, but you held back tears since you knew what you had to do. You reached underneath her, picked her up, and stood up with her in your arms as you began to try to approach the portal.

As you continued forward, you heard clashes behind you. AS you turned back to see, you saw both Undynes and both Papyruses clashing against one another. Both Underfell versions pushed back your friends as they eyes you. The other Undyne spoke, "Don't let them get away Papyrus!"

Suddenly, you felt your own soul and Chara's involuntarily become dark blue as the other Papyrus began to pull you away from the portal. Using this magic still, he spread both of his hands apart, separating Chara from yourself as sending her toward the water, where she'd likely drown in her current state.

Undyne leaped and tackled the other Papyrus for a moment, releasing you both from his magic, but before you and Chara hit the ground, you used your own magic to hold Chara in the air to prevent further injury as she began to stir.

She began to move in the air, signifying that she was waking up, right as the other Undyne began to run at you both. Without hesitation, you swipped your hand forwards through the air and sent her flying towards the portal before entering it and disappearing. You let out a sigh of relief for a quick second before the other Undyne hit you square in the head, knocking you back down to the ground. The world began to spin around you as your ears began to ring. The world was fading to darkness.

At least she was safe…

At least Chara made it back home…

Something moved. Something happened. Someone hit someone else. Something grabbed your arm. You were forced to your feet as the world began to spin a bit less, the darkness no longer holding your vision so tightly. Undyne. Undyne was helping you to your feet. She said something. Her face. It looked like it was urgent, but you weren't sure.

You were pushed. You began to walk, slowly. You were approaching something unnatural. It was spinning, but not like the rest of the world. You clutched your right arm with your left as you walked, pain flooding most of your senses now. 'Was I struck there earlier?' You must have been, and it seems painful again.

You finally arrived at… at the portal. Yeah, you made it to it without incident… but what about Undyne and Papyrus. You turned and they were close behind, holding off the evil versions of themselves. You would have waited for them, but you couldn't think straight. You simply turned back and took a step through the vortex before you.

The world around you completely faded into black for a moment as the color red swirled around you. You weren't falling unconscious. You were simply… moving…

You saw the lab appearing before you as you continued to trudge forward, looking forward to finally arriving home…

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _This is the end of Underfell. It is shorter than the Underswap stuff and I apologize for that, but oh well. Hope you liked it. Want to know what happens next? Guess you'll have to wait till next week…_**

 ** _I plan to resume writing new chapters next week as well, but the next two chapters are already written ahead of time too, so there might not even be a break in the uploading, which is kinda good. Good thing I had so many chapters built up! Anyway, hope I did well enough for all of you, and hope you have a good weekend. And for anyone starting school up, good luck!_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	17. Revelations

Gaster had just called in over the sound system to inform everyone of the machine's successful reboot. The vortex was already open once more as he began syncing it with the desired timeline, where they signatures of Alex, Papyrus, Undyne, and Chara were all currently. Unfortunately, his readings showed which timeline they landed in… and this made him work even quicker now.

Just as the final calculations were put into the QMA, everyone who was waiting in the lounge reentered the main lab. He sent a quick smile back to Verdana as he worked on his computer. Finally, the last of the coordinates were discovered and imputed into the machine, causing the normally purple vortex to turn blood red. This red appearance of the portal shocked many of the people standing behind Gaster.

Unfortunately, as the vortex remained in place, nothing dared to exit the portal. It seems that Gaster's calculations were slightly off. Sure, the portal was indefinitely in the correct timeline, but it must not have appeared as close to them as he originally thought it would be.

Suddenly, after several minutes without any sort of response, Chara came flying through the portal, through the air, and almost impacting the wall behind them before Sans' quick reflexes turned her blue and caught her mid air. There were many holes in her clothing, revealing heavy bruises forming on her skin, but luckily no puncture wounds. The Dreemurrs and Verdana quickly ran over to her as she was slowly lowered to the floor and into Toriel's arms.

"Oh, my child…" Toriel said, barely holding back tears of joy at seeing the arrival the third of her missing children. Toriel quickly tried to begin healing her with her healing magic.

After another minute or two, Alex came trudging through the portal frame in a daze, clutching his right arm with his left. Unlike Chara, he had several cuts along his body as he entered the lab, and an especially bad puncture wound was bleeding underneath his hand on his arm. His soul was dark blue, which surprised a few people. That's when several of them realized that Chara flew through the portal because of Alex sending her through like that.

"H-hey guys." He said weakly as he was promptly picked up and held closely by Asgore. Frisk ran over and checked on Alex… only because she was worried about her adopted brother and for no other reason whatsoever.

After that, no one else came through for a moment, confusing everyone, before another figure came through. This time, it was Papyrus. His 'Battle Body' was severely damaged, and for the first time ever, he seemed out of breath, "SO… SO MUCH FOR… FRIENDSHIP!" He yelled behind him. His eye-sockets lit up upon seeing everyone else, "H-HELLO EVERYONE!" He said, still exhausted.

Finally, just a moment later, Undyne came through it, facing backwards and towards the portal, knocking Papyrus out of the way. She looked behind herself quickly and apologized, "Sorry about that Papyrus!" Her black tank-top was now in shreds on the bottom half of it, while her jeans didn't fare much better. In fact, the holes and shreds looked as if she did it herself with her own spears.

She promptly summoned another spear in her hands and held it tightly as she watched toward the portal, expecting trouble to follow them through. Seeing Undyne so serious, Alphys decided against running up and kissing her for a moment.

Then, to everyone's surprise, two more figures came through. One was a tall skeleton a few inches taller than Papyrus, wearing a more intense 'battle body' than Papyrus, with it being a combination of red and black, rather than orange and white. His jaw was sharp, and in the shape of a frown, which was likely because his really cool battle body had many holes in it as well, though didn't seem bothered at all by them.

The other wore a suit of black knight-like armor with a broken red heart on the chestplate. She looked very much like Undyne, but her red hair was much wilder, and her eye patch was more menacing than Undyne's. She flashed a toothy, menacing grin as she held a large, glowing red spear in one hand.

"Ahh, there's the cowards!" The other Undyne said, extending her spear towards the one who had come before her. "No little kids to hide behind now! Nowhere else to run!"

The other Papyrus was smirking, crossing his arms for a moment while summoning a pair of large red bones, one in each hand, **"HEH, SUCH WEAKLINGS, RUNNING FROM A FIGHT!"** He stuck both hands out, aiming both bones at them, **"DON'T YOU ALL KNOW HOW THIS WORLD WORKS? IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED!"** Asriel covered his ears upon hearing that horrible phrase be uttered as Toriel and Asgore moved in front of their children.

"Y-you two did this?" Verdana questioned.

Both the other Undyne and Papyrus looked at each other before bursting into laughter. The corrupted Undyne spoke, "Unfortunately, yes. Not our best work, but we're… correcting it!" She said, smirking as she eyes them like a predator does prey.

 **"** **NO ONE DISRESPECTS THE GUARD AND LIVES TO TELL ABOUT IT!"** The other Papyrus added. He then extended his arms as the red bones did so as well, doubling in length.

Verdana shook, and suddenly, a dark, oppressive energy filled the room. If someone were to look at her eyes, they'd see the pupils gone… replaced with red, glowing orbs. The more demonic Undyne, without warning, summoned dozens of red spears above her and sent them flying toward them all, not really caring which people were actually hit.

Verdana summoned two of what looked like her chargers, but they were different. These were a dark blue completely, and their horns pointed forwards. The red spears approached… and seemed to be caught in a gravity well, orbiting the two skulls.

* * *

 ** _{Cue: Megalo Strikes Back… If you're feelin' fancy}_**

The little skeleton girl didn't give the two time to react. All they saw of her was that she leaned forward before she seemed to vanish in a burst of pure speed, dust kicking up where she launched herself at the two, tackling them back through the portal, her Chargers, the name of the strange Blasters, following.

Once on the other side, Verdana kicked off the two, sending them flying further while she landed in the water. Not caring for her surroundings, she called forth her original Blaster. It seemed to have changed, because it was red… and about twice the size of either enemy monster.

These versions of Papyrus and Undyne spun in the air and landed cleanly on their feet. Undyne called out to seemingly no one, "Alphys, activate the emergency traps!" Just as she finished, large walls of flames shot up from the ground, hiding the pair from Verdana's view as they separated.

Of course, this didn't stop her from summoning several more, smaller, versions of her Blasters, the size of her brothers Gaster Blasters. They charged their shots, before shooting blindly into the flames. Suddenly, catching her off guard, her soul turned green, holding her in place as a barrage of bones and spears came at her from all directions, seemingly at random with no pattern to the attack.

Pulling her two still active blue chargers next to her, she allowed them to catch the attacks, looking for where they came from. A bout of laughter was heard over the sounds of the shooting flames as they suddenly turned light blue with a darker blue aura around them, forcing the flames to divert from their previous positions and incinerate the captured weapons before trying to hit Verdana.

Despite her Chargers, she managed to get hit… and a red one appeared. Smirking menacingly, She laughed, pulling her Blasters around her and firing them in a circle. Unfortunately for her attackers, they had just leaped at her to try to attack while distracted with the flames. They were midair when the blasters went off and hit them. Luckily, Undyne reacted quickly and put green shields around herself and Papyrus before they landed back on their feet.

Papyrus let out a laugh, **"NOW THIS IS A FIGHT! WE MIGHT ACTUALLY HAVE TO 'TRY' TO KILL YOU!"** He bragged as he summoned more bones around him, while Undyne did the same with spears.

" ** _What makes you think I_** ** _was_**?" Verdana asked in a distorted, sickening voice that sounded nothing like her, summoning her own bones.

Undyne and Papyrus struck first, leaping into the air to attack this foe directly. The sounds of the battle were echoing throughout the entire Underground. Even loud enough to be heard somewhat through the portal.

Dodging an attack, Verdana grew annoyed. " ** _I'm done toying with you._** " She snarled. Reaching at them, she turned them blue, lifting her into the air. The chargers and the blasters that weren't already so fused, forming three more giant Blasters. She sent them in each cardinal direction around the two, charging their blasts.

In a last-ditch effort, they both focused their projectiles toward the blasters around them, sending all they had to destroy the blasters before they fired upon them. Still having her bones, Verdana sent them, spinning, deflecting the incoming attacks as the Blasters fired.

The pair of monsters rapidly descended, landing hard into the glowing water below. They both swam quickly to the shore and climbed back out, nearly out of energy. Still, they managed to form a single bone and a single spear in their hands before their exhaustion caused the magical weapons to almost blink out of existence, instead throwing their final weapon at her in a last attempt to kill her. The single red bone and single red spear managed to sail through the air and go right for Verdana.

Unamused, she caught the two… before sending blackness into them, turning them dark red and cutting them off from the two. " ** _Thanks for the trophies. I think I'll repay the favor by killing you with them._** " Verdana said, walking menacingly forwards, tail slowly waving back and forth.

"WAIT!" Verdana heard a small, female voice scream at her. Suddenly, a little girl in a red and black striped sweater ran up and got between Verdana and the two monsters. She was holding a flower pot in her hands in front of her, the flower looking frightened in it, but she only looked… determined. "Leave them alone!" She shouted as she stared down the skeleton before her.

Verdana tilted her head, confused. Why would Frisk want her to stop? They hurt their family and friends.

The other Frisk stayed in her spot, still holding Flowey closely as she spoke, "I… I know you believe in 'Kill or be Killed'... but it doesn't have to be this way!"

" ** _I don't believe in that. These two hurt my friends and family, were going to kill them. So I kill them back._** " Verdana said, her hate filled mind not seeing how out of character this was for her.

The flower shook its bulb, "No! This world doesn't need any more killing. After all… It should be 'save or be saved'!" Frisk giggled a bit before the flower scowled at her, "Not now Frisk!" He warned.

Verdana considered it. While she **_wanted them dead_** , Frisk also seemed to know better in these kinds of situations. Dismissing all but her original Blaster, and the two things in her hands, she shrunk the blaster to the size of her head and had it float next to her. " ** _Fine, Frisk. I guess I can let them go… but if I see them do ANYTHING like this to my family again, I'll dust them where they stand._** " She told the other Frisk.

Still out of breath, the other Papyrus tried to speak up, **"H-HOLD ON. WE DON'T NEED ANY STUPID MERCY!"** Frisk gasped and turned toward him.

Flowey got angry, "Can it, ya idiot! You could learn a thing or two from this, but nothing gets through that thick skull of yours!" Papyrus shut his mouth and laid back down on the ground, which Undyne was already doing. Frisk turned back to Verdana and smiled at her in a friendly way.

Verdana tried to smile back, but it was menacing as all hell, before she turned on her foot, walking back to the portal.

* * *

As soon as she entered it and reappeared in the lab, Gaster shut off the QMA to prevent anything else from happening. Everyone was staring at her in a combination of shock, confusion, and a hint of fear… except for Papyrus, he was just happy to see her again.

She tilted her head, confused at them. " ** _What?_** " She asked.

Gaster cleared his throat and used a bit of magic, forming an extra floating hand that grabbed a small mirror and brought it over. **_"Um, Verd. You're kinda glowing black and red…"_** He said as he grabbed the mirror from his magical hand and showed her her own appearance with it.

Verdana blinked in surprise, idly slinging her apprehended weapons behind her back, magically attaching there. " ** _Huh… neat._** **"** She said, the HATE making her not worried in the least. Now would be a good time for a PURE beam.

Alex, still cut and bruised, looked at Verdana before walking away from Toriel and Asgore. He brought out his soul as it began to glow, "Lemme try something." He said calmly, as he put a hand on Verdana's shoulder and sending his Pure magic into her. Through his hand, rather than a beam from his soul, it entered her body and soul, trying to Purify her and remove the Hate influence on her soul.

She clutched her head, stumbling, even as the redness faded from her, slowly turning her back into herself. "What… happened?" She grumbled. Seems to have caused memory loss. Alex spoke quietly, "You were overcome with Hate… it's really hard to overcome alone…" He said sadly, frowning. Verdana looked confused still. Gaster then shook his head, reached down and picked her up. **_"I'll tell you all about it in the morning. It's getting quite late."_** He answered, everyone else nodding in agreement.

Finally with their whole family reunited, the Dreemurrs left the lab to go home for the night and try to recover for school tomorrow. Undyne and Alphys, hand-in-hand, wished them all a good evening as they, too, left to go home after the adventure. This left only the skeletons and Mister Sower in the lab.

"Well… we did it doctor!" The teacher said with a smile. Gaster nodded, smiling back at him. After a moment, Jordan spoke again, "Well, I guess it's my turn to say good night. So… Good night!" He said as he left the lab as well. Shortly thereafter, Sans brought Papyrus and Verdana home while Gaster turned everything off in the Lab and joined them.

* * *

Back in the skeleton household, the three skeleton children sat at the table waiting only a moment for Gaster to appear. Gaster looked at Papyrus for a moment, **_"Are you alright after all that Papyrus?"_** He asked, hoping to deal with him before the family matter with Verdana and Sans.

Papyrus, of course, was beaming, "WHY, YES, OF COURSE I'M ALRIGHT! JUST NEED TO PATCH UP MY BATTLE BODY, BUT THAT'LL ONLY TAKE A FEW MINUTES!" Then he frowned slightly, "THOUGH… I AM DISAPPOINTED I COULDN'T MAKE NEW FRIENDS, EVEN IF THEIR INTENTIONS WERE A BIT… MURDERY…" He said the last word with a bit of a squint in his eye-sockets.

Gaster smiled and nodded before Papyrus went upstairs to start working on his battle body before bed. Sans went to get up, _"welp, i'm bone tired. g' night!"_ Before he could get up, Gaster glared at him.

 ** _"_** ** _Not so fast Comic Sans Serif."_** He said, not hesitating to use his full name. Sans flinched and resumed sitting in his seat.

Verdana looked between the two, droopy-socketed, but still awake. Gaster sat down at the table as well. **_"So. I believe I learned that there was an argument between yourself and Frisk. Is that correct Sans?"_**

Sans looked down and sighed with a frown on his face, _"well… yeah g, we had a bit of an argument…"_ He confirmed, still looking down in shame.

Gaster nodded, **_"Before we talk about the argument, do you know how this whole thing effected Verdana?"_** He asked, looking at her with concern. She somehow still had the tears on her skull. That's a bit worrying, considering she was a bit wet from all the water that was splashed in the fight.

Sans shrugged, but his smile faltered, _"yeah, i saw… it kinda got to her…"_

Gaster frowned, **_"Not just then, with the tears. I'm also talking about her 'episode' when those darker versions of your brother and friend came through. There's no doubt that your argument is partially to blame for it!"_** He said sternly, then he looked over to Verdana.

 ** _"_** ** _Did you see that darkness around her?"_** He asked rhetorically, **_"The hate? The LV?"_**

Sans' eye sockets went dark, _"what?"_ He said in a lower tone. Gaster's eyes widened when he mentioned the LV. Sans stood up and stared menacingly at Gaster, _"she has LOVE?"_ Sans turned his attention immediately toward Verdana, who at this point was snoring, adorably sucking on her thumb, making him doubt the claims of LV.

Gaster stood up as well, rising above Sans' height. He kept his voice down so as not to wake Verdana, **_"... Yes, she does…"_** He finally answered. Before Sans could respond, Gaster cut him off, **_"But it's not what you think!"_**

Sans' tone turned more menacing, _"not what i think? dad, in case you've forgotten, i'm the damn judge of the underground."_ He clenched his fists beside him, _"i should have known something was up…"_ He turned away from the other two skeletons at the table, _"i was wondering why she didn't have a counterpart in the other world. why i've never seen her before you brought her home."_

He turned back toward Gaster with his eye aflame involuntarily from his anger, _"she's not from this timeline, is she?"_

Gaster turned Sans' soul blue and held him in place, **_"SHE HAD NOWHERE ELSE TO GO!"_** He shouted in frustration, **_"She was all alone out there, having already lost everything more times than one!"_**

Sans didn't even flinch, _"so… someone's alone, and you bring them into our home just like that? even if they're a murderer?!"_

 ** _"_** ** _She never wanted it! She never accepted it in her soul!"_** He replied harshly, his own eyes glowing purple involuntarily in his anger. With all this shouting in the room, Verdana shifted, whimpering as nightmares took hold of her.

Sans stood there, not responding for a moment. Still maintaining his low voice, he finally responded, _"...and yet… here we are talking about her just using LV and hate. i don't know about you… but it looked like she accepted it long enough to harness its power..."_ Sans noticed Verdana whimpering, but said nothing. Gaster stood there in shock, mouth open.

 ** _"_** ** _Sans… listen to me. I…"_** Sans let out a sigh and shook his head, interrupting him.

 _"_ _i'm goin' to grillby's… let me know when you decide to actually tell_ _ **your family**_ _what's really going on."_ He said coldly before vanishing from the kitchen table. Verdana was crying at this, whimpering and trembling in her sleep. Hearing this, Gaster turned toward her and picked her up, rocking her back and forth slowly to try to comfort her, but he remained silent after what just happened, barely managing a weak smile toward Verdana's sleeping form.

Verdana clung to him in her sleep, tears pouring fresh. Well her skull wasn't getting clean anytime soon. Gaster held her closely as he ascended the stairs, and entered her bedroom. He put her down gently in her bed, and looked at her for a moment longer. She seemed to become more distressed when he put her down, thrashing a bit now. He sighed and smiled a bit before picking her back up and holding her as he sat on her bed.

It took nearly two hours for her to calm enough to be left alone. Finally, fast asleep, Gaster laid her down and got up to left, not noticing a note that laid on her dresser that had not been there previously. He went to his own room and went to bed for the night, trying to think of how he was going to tell Sans and Papyrus everything…

* * *

The next morning came too soon or some. Gaster was unable to sleep much at all during the night, making him need his coffee that much more this morning. Unfortunately for everyone, it was a Monday, which meant work and school. He knew the alarm clock in Verdana's room would wake her, so he went downstairs to grab a cup of coffee before checking on her.

Papyrus was down stairs, just back from a morning jog. Today, it appeared, they'd be eating cereal for breakfast, since Gaster had not had time to go shopping during the 'QMA Accident'. As Papyrus got the bowls, milk, and cereal out for everyone, Gaster re-ascended the staircase and knocked on Verdana's door.

 ** _"_** ** _Hey Verd. Mind if I come in?"_** He asked gently through the door. He didn't hear a response, worrying him. He gave it just a second longer before speaking again, **_"I'm coming in, alright?"_** He said right before opening the door and stepping into her room.

He saw a lump under the covers, and heard her sobbing her little sockets out. He ran over to the bed, almost spilling his cup of coffee, and pulled back the sheets to hold her closely in an attempt to comfort her, **_"Verd?! What's wrong?"_** He asked in concern.

Sobbing, she handed him a letter, before returning to her curled up form. He read it, frowning in disbelief at its contents.

* * *

 _Hey Verdana…_

 _Your coat looked a bit confused. After you having it for such a short time, it appears that_

 _it didn't really know you the way it thought it did… much like how I might be feeling._

 _That said, I've decided to take it for a while, and try to learn as much as I can about_

 _who you really are, and why you and G lied to us. When you decided to actually cut the Bull and speak,_

 _let me know. Until then, I'm sure you'll manage without it. After all, the cold cuts straight to the bone._

 _sans,_

 _-Sans_

* * *

Gaster did not seem happy with this. "I-i-i d-d-don't k-know w-what he's t-talking a-about, daddy, w-why d-does he think i-i-i'm lying?" Verdana stuttered, sobbing a bit more.

Gaster sighed and held her closely, closing his eye sockets as he did so, **_"I… I've made many mistakes over the years Verd. I've always been too ambitious, too stubborn… And this has all been another one of them."_** He said sadly. He looked down at her and smiled weakly, **_"But I'm going to fix this, alright. Don't worry, I'll talk to Sans about this!"_** He promised.

"O-o-o-okay, d-d-d-daddy…" Verdana said, sniffling.

 ** _"_** ** _Now… why don't we get you ready for school?"_** He said with a smile, **_"I'm sure Chara and them will miss you if you don't show up today!"_**

Verdana looked like she _really_ , _really_ didn't want to go, but nodded, getting up out of bed and putting her boots on, before instinctively reaching for her jacket and sobbing a little when she grabbed empty air. Gaster frowned a bit and walked over to her before getting an idea. He vanished from the room for a moment before returning with a thinner, white coat.

It was a tad too big for Verdana, but would still work if she wanted it. Gaster showed it to her, **_"This is one of your brother's older lab coats from their time in the lab with me. If you'd like, you can have it."_**

Verdana took it hesitantly, putting it around her and immediately hiding in it. He chuckled for a moment, looking at her, **_"It might not work as well as your other coat for that purpose, but I think it's pretty cool."_** He said, while motioning toward his own lab coat he was wearing, this one lacking the burn holes his previous one had.

"L-let's g-g-go g-get b-breakf-fast now…" Verdana stuttered, moving to go downstairs, sniffling still. Gaster nodded and they went downstairs to sit at the table. Papyrus beamed upon seeing them.

"GOOD MORNING SIS! MORNING DAD!" He said with a smile before motioning toward the cereal boxes, "WE HAVE CEREAL WITH RAISINS, CEREAL WITH MARSHMALLOWS, AND CEREAL WITH… ERM, JUST CEREAL."

"W-whatevers f-fine…" Verdana mumbled.

Papyrus frowned for a moment. Before either of the sitting skeletons could respond, Papyrus rushed over and picked Verdana up in a tight hug, lifting her off the ground. "IT'S OK! NO NEED TO BE SAD!" He said as he swung her back and forth, trying his best to cheer her up.

"I-i-i'm n-n-not s-s-sad about t-t-that P-pap, b-big b-b-brot-thers j-just being a m-m-meanie," Verdana told him, but gladly accepted the temporary happiness boost.

He smiled, seeing her cheer up a bit before frowning, "SANS MADE YOU SAD? THAT LAZYBONES! I'M GONNA HAVE TO GIVE HIM A PIECE OF MY MIND! NO ONE MAKES MY SIS SAD!" He exclaimed.

Verdana made a little sad smile at this, hugging him back. "C-c-can you g-get me s-some food n-n-now p-pap?" She asked.

His eye-sockets widened for a moment before putting her back down, "O-OF COURSE! HERE!" He said, grabbing the box of cereal with marshmallows, "I'M SURE YOU'LL LIKE THIS ONE. IT'S MY SECOND FAVORITE CEREAL!" He narrowed his sockets toward Gaster for a moment, "DAD WON'T BUY MTT BRAND CEREAL BECAUSE IT'S UNHEALTHY, BUT IT'S STILL THE GREATEST!" He said, smile returning quickly as he handed her the box.

She nodded, before eating slowly, barely at all really. Papyrus didn't see this since he went back upstairs to grab a few things. Gaster, however, noticed her behavior.

 ** _"_** ** _C'mon Verd. It's alright."_** He said in a gentle, fatherly tone. **_"By the time I'm done talking with Sans today, I'm sure he'll apologize repeatedly to you."_** He said, trying to cheer her up a bit.

She absentmindedly nodded, nibbling on her food halfheartedly. He sighed sadly as he finished his cup of coffee, then proceeding to get up and refill his mug. He really hoped Sans would listen to him. He then turned back around to Verdana, **_"You about ready to go to school?"_** He asked gently.

She hesitated, but nodded, shifting her schoolbag a little. He smiled and walked over to her, extending his hand out toward her. The little sad skeleton girl took it, sniffling a bit. He idly noticed her skull was more stained than last night. He used one of his hands to try to gently remove the stains while they vanished from the household.

* * *

Gaster said his goodbye fairly quickly as Verdana made her way into the school. It seemed the stains would take more than rubbing to remove, but he was confident her friends would make her feel better. Especially a certain formerly dead human.

Verdana trudged into school, and while normally she'd sit with Frisk, Chara, and Alex, today she went to her lonely seat. As other students began to enter the room, the Dreemurrs sat in their normal seats. That is, until Chara noticed that Verdana was both not sitting beside her and was currently in the back corner once more.

Without hesitation, she walked back toward Verdana with a friendly smile, but her eyes held a hint of concern for her once she saw the tear stains. "Hey Verd… You alright?" She asked gently and quietly.

"O-o-oh, h-hi, C-chara…" Verdana mumbled, jerking a bit, startled. She'd had her head down in her skeletal arms before, and just moved enough to look at Chara and show her stained face.

"You, uh… you look sad Verd. Would you mind if I sat next to you? B-but if y-you want, I can leave…" She said.

Verdana shook her head no. "N-no, y-y-you cna s-stay… j-just… look…" She mumbled, handing Chara the note from Sans, her having taking it back from Gaster earlier. Chara looked down at the note for a few moments before Verdana saw her expression freeze. Chara then clenched her hands into fists while holding the note, crumpling it in her hands.. She was wondering why Verdana wasn't wearing her favorite jacket.

"Th-that stupid comedian…" She mumbled with a hint of anger in her tone, "Y-you didn't do anything wrong…" She said, this time a bit louder, to Verdana. Hearing Chara say something behind them, Frisk, Alex, and Asriel all come back to investigate.

"What's going on?" Asriel asked, a small smirk on his face when he looked at Chara and Verdana by themselves alone.

Chara sent him a glare, "Not now, stupid!" She said, still glaring at Asriel, "Sans was being a jerk and took Verd's really cool jacket!" Asriel and the other two humans peeked around to get a look at the note.

"Why would Sans do that?" Asriel asked in confusion.

Alex responded, "Maybe he has a good reason. Sans usually doesn't get upset easily, so there's probably a good explanation." Alex tried.

Chara turned toward Alex and glared at him, this time more harshly than the one she gave to Asriel, "Really? She must've done something REAL BAD to deserve this! Making her cry and taking away her things?!" Alex sunk back a bit, taking a step away.

Frisk spoke up a bit, sounding a bit angry, "H-hey! Don't be mean to Alex! He was just trying to think of a reason why Sans would do it!" She said, trying to defend Alex.

"Well, that's a pretty crappy reason!" She countered, not at all apologetic. Verdana whimpered at the fighting, shrinking in on herself. Chara turned to her quickly and sat beside her. She spoke softly while she rested a hand on Verdana's shoulder, "Hey, it's alright Verd." She said gently, trying to calm her purely platonic, for now, friend down.

She sniffled, and boldly hugged Chara, hiding her face in her shoulder, tears starting anew. Chara flinched a bit in surprise, but put her arms around Verdana as well. She sent a glare behind Verdana's back toward her three siblings, mouthing 'Don't. Say. A word.' to them. The three of them, deciding it was best not to disobey her, returned to their seats up front again.

Mister Sower walked in, smiling much wider upon seeing Verdana and the Dreemurrs in his classroom once more. He looked back and saw Chara and Verdana still wrapped up in a hug. He cleared his throat for a moment, grabbing their attention and causing them to both blush as he began the day's lesson. He maintained his smile the entire time. Boy, was he glad everything was back to normal!

* * *

Dark, darker, yet darker. No. Much darker than that. Beyond where Gaster once stood, between timelines, stood two different entities. Neither of them was Gaster. Both of them stood in silence for a moment, thinking over the past few days. The first of the two grew impatient. Angry. Their plan failed, didn't it?

The first one spoke first, his voice riddled with fluctuations in pitch, as if speaking through a glitchy microphone, "It DiDn'T wOrK! ThEy StIlL mAdE iT bAcK iN oNe PiEcE!" He remained silent for a moment, waiting for the other to respond. When the only reponse he recieved was silence, he grew angrier.

"yOu SaId YoU hAd So MuCh PoWeR. yOu PrOmIsSeD mE tHeIr DeMiSe!" He got up in the other entity's face, mere inches from the other. Suddenly, without warning, the first one flew backwards quickly, hitting some sort of object that was not there previously. His bones tingled as the magic energy the other being used coursed through them, threatening to make him burst. The other being now turned around as the skeleton tried to get back to his feet.

"I promised you nothing of the sort. I told you they would meet their demise, but I never expected those 'intrusions' to actually kill them." He spoke in a clam, collected voice.

The skeleton's glowing red eye sockets narrowed at the other entity, "WhAt?! ThEn WhAt WaS tHe WhOlE pOiNt Of WhAt We DiD?! wHy WoN't YoU lEt mE dEsTrOy ThAt PaThEtIc TiMeLiNe?!"

The Entity shook his head slowly, "Your methods are too quick. Too messy. Do not forget you have many others looking for you who wish to do nothing more then end your existence." The skeleton remained quiet, knowing that the other was right.

The Entity smirked a bit before continuing, "But, if you weaken them. Destroy their will, show them how weak they really are, we can convince them to willingly give us the timeline." The Entity held out their hands and shrugged, "No mess. No collateral damage. No... leftovers..." The Entity said this last sentence while narrowing their eyes at the black skeleton before him.

The Entity turned back around, leaving their back to the skeleton, "Now... prepare the wormhole... or the deal's off." The skeleton froze in place for a moment at this. The Entity didn't need to turn around to see his reaction. They turned their head slightly around to look at Error!Sans, their smile turning into an evil one, "You know... Frisk asks me about you every day. They miss you Sans... and we both know you don't want to disappoint her..."

With that, the skeleton vanished from sight. The Entity smiled confidently. After all, their plan was working fairly well, and it helped that they had Error on a leash like this. The Entity swiped their hand through the air as a small screen appeared in this void, showing the Entity the school where Alex and everyone else was at currently. Their confident smirk remained on the Entity's face as they spoke to themself _**{ErRoR}**_ and the readers/watchers...

"Soon enough... this timeline... this story... will be mine..."

* * *

 ** _After all of the intense stuff going on, next chapter is a bit more relaxed and fun. Not too much story stuff. And… I think some of you will like next chapter too, I hope! Anyway, hope you liked it!_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	18. So, About that Dance

Mister Sower's class went by rather smoothly. Rather it was out of the goodness of his heart, or because of what happened over the weekend, he assigned no homework that night. Before everyone left, he once again reminded them of the Dance this coming Saturday as they all ran out of the classroom.

Together, the four Dreemurrs and Verdana all left to head to the gymnasium. Chara was much happier now that Verdana didn't seem so sad. She still was a bit down, but didn't look on the edge of falling. Together, they arrived at their next class, and changed into some clothes that were better suited for PE.

Verdana stayed close to Chara, but seemed a little excited. Upon arriving, all the kids lined up in front of their PE teacher, Miss Undyne.

"Alright nerds! You pumped for today's exercises?!" She yelled enthusiastically. She got the exact response she expected, a chorus of groans and sighs from the entire group. They've all know this teacher long enough to know that she'll find your limit, break it, and push you even harder after that. She just laughed after they finally stopped groaning.

"Alright, alright. Today, we're gonna be playing a game instead." She then pointed to a random kid in the crowd, "Ya hear me? We ain't doing regular exercises today!" This time, everyone cheered in excitement.

Chara continued looking forward toward Undyne while whispering out of the corner of her mouth, "Hey Verd, what game you think she'll make us play today? My bets on an obstacle course of doom." She joked, not able to control the smirk that formed.

"I-i bet 'suplex and seek'," Verd whispered back. Chara grunted a bit, trying to hold back the laugh as best as she could. That was a good one, she'd have to remember it.

"Or, maybe it'll be something a bit less hardcore, like maybe jousting." She commented back… just as Undyne snapped her head to her. She summoned a glowing spear in her hand and pointed it at Chara, snapping her red soul into a bright green. Everyone around her took a step back as she was held in place by magic.

"Hey nerd! You paying attention?!" She said to Chara, grinning a big, toothy grin.

Chara, still unable to move, heard Asriel make a comment from a few feet away, knowing he was too far away for her to get him, "OOoooohhh snap. Chara's in trouble…" He said, smirking at her, earning a quick glare in response.

Undyne looked at the other kids for a moment, still pointed at Chara, "Alright, since she wasn't paying attention, three laps around the Gym for the lot of ya!" Everyone groaned as they began to jog around the court, Chara remaining in place due to the magic. After a few moments, everyone got back in line, many of them sending Chara a few glares, but not much more than that since they knew what she was capable of.

Undyne smiled and put her spear away, turning Chara's soul red once more. "Now, let's try again… TODAY…!" She shouted, "We're gonna be playing some good, old fashioned dodgeball!" She exclaimed, motioning to the many red balls behind her. Some kids seemed excited, while others were hesitant.

Verdana didn't know if she had an advantage, being a thin small skeleton, or a disadvantage, since she could more easily get bones broken. Undyne grinned at the reaction.

"Alright, alright. Here are the rules. One!" She said, holding up a single finger, "You get hit, you're out. Unless you catch it, then the thrower's out. Two!" She held out another finger, "You cross the line to the other side of the court, you're out. Three!" She now stuck three fingers up, "No magic allowed! It wouldn't be fair to use it when some of you can't. You use magic, you're out!" She put both hands on her hips in the form of fists.

Alex put his hand in the air. Undyne pointed at him, "Yes!?"

"Uh, what about if we hit someone in the head?" He asked. At first, Undyne simply shrugged and gave him two thumbs-up.

"Great aim, then! FUHUHUHU!" She began to laugh for a moment before continuing, she then remembered that she was a teacher, "...but that's uncool and not what you should do. You do that, and you'll get in trouble unless it was an accident." She said this last part sadly and monotone, as if she were a robot programed to say that specific phrase. In all likelihood, the Principal drilled it into her head.

She then brightened up a bit, smiling once more, "But… the winning team earns a week without laps!" She said, causing everyone to erupt in cheers of joy. They were all ready to destroy the opposite team, caring not for friendship if it meant no more of Undyne's laps.

"W-what about teams?" Verdana asked.

Undyne nodded, "Yes, yes. There are… what 40 of you? You'll all split into eight teams of five and go tournament style… And…" She added, pausing for a moment to add drama, "... the winning team will go against me. If they win, everyone gets a week off of laps while the winning team gets a month. How's that sound?" Everyone cheered even louder now.

"So… you all have three minutes to decide your teams before we start. If you can't form a team in that time, you're out!" She said with a grin before doing her favorite thing as a PE teacher, and blew her whistle around her neck as loud as she could. Everyone began running around in a panic, trying to form teams.

It was to no one's surprise when the four Dreemurrs tried to join up in a group, now only needing one more member for their team. They had two options for a teammate, MK wanted to join in, but so did Verdana. Frisk and Alex felt that MK should join up while Asriel and Chara argued that Verdana should be on their team. This argument led to a startling conclusion. The Dreemurr team was no more, now split in half.

One team held Alex, Frisk, and MK. They then quickly brought two more kids into their group to get the required five. Their names were Jacob and Sally, a brother and sister who happened to be twins, though they looked nothing alike other than their blonde hair and green eyes.

The other team formed in the aftermath consisted of Chara, Asriel, and Verdana, after Chara forced her into the group whether she wanted to join or not. They, too, added an additional two teammates to complete the set of five. Chara, not being a particularly open person, had difficulty finding someone she deemed worthy of her team. Finally, two more people joined the group. One was another human, which Chara wasn't entirely ok with, named Anthony, a shorter kid with black hair and brown eyes. The other was a monster, which Chara normally preferred over humans. Unfortunately, Chara wasn't too fond of this monster… especially since it was a Temmie.

"HOi! gO TeAM!" Temmie shouted aloud, vibrating erratically. Chara glared at the temmie for a moment, which it didn't even notice, before turning to Verdana with a smile.

"You ready to win?!" She asked with a large smile. Verdana nodded back, squirming a little. She was ready to bob and weave to victory.

"No way. You mean you're ready to lose, right!?" Alex said with a smirk as he came over to Chara.

Chara squinted her eyes at him, with fists on her hips, "As if! Our team is the most well-prepared and competent team!" She stated as a fact.

On cue… "YAy yAY! wEs goNNa bE dA beSt teM. wE tEm oUTta tEM!" Temmie shouted for the world to hear with her broken English. Chara glared at Temmie while Alex and Frisk beside him burst into laughter.

Alex and Chara took a step toward each other for a moment, extending their hands to each other and shaking them. "May the best team win." Chara said. Alex nodded. Chara pulled Alex a bit closer and began to whisper into his ear so no one else could hear them. "Why don't we up the stakes a bit. If our team does better than yours, you have to ask Frisk to the dance… today." She said, smirking a bit as she knew the blush was forming on Alex's face.

Alex froze for a second before responding, "O-ok… but when my team wins, you have to ask Verdana today to the dance instead!" It was now Chara's turn to freeze in place, blush forming now on her own face.

Finally, she barely spoke a final word, "D-d-deal…" They then separated, each with a blush on their faces, and returned to their teams to prepare. Then, they heard another whistle blow.

"Alright nerds! It's time to play ball. Malcom's team and Josh's team, you're up first!" She said pointing at the two groups she just named.

A good thirty minutes have gone by now, and the teams were now about to reach the finals. Chara's team had done nearly flawlessly up until this point, already earning the first of the two spots in the finals. Chara, Asriel, Verdana… and Anthony and Temmie, all sat and watched this last semi-final round play out.

Unfortunately, Frisk and Alex's team was doing very well too. They beat the enemy team with only a single casualty, which only occurred because MK tripped and fell, and before he could get up he was hit. Now, the round was over.

Undyne blew her whistle, making the kids cover their ears as it shrieked loudly. "Alex's team wins!" She smirked, "And now time for the finals. Alex vs Chara. Who will win?" She asked the rest of them. The crowd was evenly divided, half expecting Chara's team to win, the other expecting Alex's to do so.

Alex's team approached their own side and stood there, ready to win. Chara's team did the same, and approached their starting line. Chara turned to Verdana and smiled, not letting her see the small drops of sweat forming on her neck from the fear of losing, "Y-you ready Verd?"

"Yeah," She said back, nodding. She didn't seem tired at all. Now, with everyone at the lines and ready to go, Undyne held them in anticipation.

"Ready..."

"Set…"

Then, the whistle blew.

* * *

They ran.

 ** _{Cue: Battle Against a True Hero (for added effect)}_**

Every single one of them ran to their positions. Monster Kid, or MK, was the fastest one out of them all, just slightly more so than Chara. MK was up front, smacking a little over half the balls back his to teammates with his tail as Chara did the same with her hands. Everyone had at least one ball as Chara and MK returned to their teammates.

Verdana tossed hers at MK. Whether it were luck or skill, MK managed to trip and fall, allowing the ball to harmlessly pass over his head. Alex's and Frisk's eyes widened. This meant WAR! Together, the pair of them sent their balls sailing through the air towards the other team as well, both aimed at Verdana.

With Chara's quick reflexes, she threw her ball at one of the two flying balls, knocking it off course and harmlessly to the ground. Verdana caught the other, stumbling a little bit. Frisk put on a pouting face as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"Yourrrrrrr OUT!" Undyne cheered as Frisk rolled her eyes, walking off the court and watching from the sidelines.

The sudden and unexpected 'out' caught both sides off guard for a moment, giving MK a clear shot, hitting the human named Anthony in the chest with a powerful shot with his tail, evening the sides up once more. Undyne was excited and pumped, jumping from her seat to once again shout at the kid that they're done. He huffed and walked to the side as well.

Chara wasted no time getting back into it. Tag teaming with Asriel, they sent a set of three balls toward Alex. Alex spun and leaped to the side, right out of harm's way as the balls sailed by. What Alex didn't see was the pair of humans on his team behind him. Sally was hit by all three as she protected the other human Jacob, earning her an out. Mid spin, Alex sent a ball of his own toward Chara.

Chara prepared to catch the ball, but that's when it happened. MK threw another ball, hitting Alex's mid air and sending it off course, hitting Asriel's side and bouncing off onto the ground. "Yeah!" Alex and MK shouted, high-fiving each other quickly with MK's tail before returning to the game.

Chara's eyes widened in shock by the bold move, as Undyne yelled out in joy, "OUTTA THERE Asriel! You're done!" Asriel hung his head in defeat as he walked off to the side. While he was distracted, Verdana beamed a ball at MK.

"MK, look out!" Alex tried to warn. MK dove for the ground, but his tail was still sticking up. It was impacted directly by Verdana's ball, before the ball bounced back to her, ready to be thrown again.

Alex wasted no time and ran to his only remaining teammate, Jacob. They formulated a quick plan while dodging other thrown balls, which all failed miserably and missed, since Temmie was currently being a ball hog, not allowing Verdana or Chara to grab any other balls. While formulating a plan, Jacob simply stuck out a hand and caught one of Temmie's poor attempts at getting someone out.

Undyne was particularly pleased with the Temmie getting out, "You're done Temmie. Go sit down!" She yelled with excitement, watching this battle continue.

"No nO NO! TeM iS OuuT?! CaNNOt bE TruES!" Temmie cried out in confusion as she took a seat beside Asriel and Anthony.

Verdana grabbed a ball now that Temmie wasn't hogging them, beaming it. Both kids narrowly dodged the ball, diving into the hard floor and earning a small headache. They got right back up as Chara took a swing at them too, aiming for Alex, who narrowly dodged again. Now with a small window while the enemies restocked on weapons, Alex and Jacob put their plan into motion.

Each grabbed a ball in one hand and hesitantly held each other's other hand tightly. Both began spinning rapidly in place, using their momentum to their advantage. Chara grabbed the closest ball to her and chucked it at the pair, knowing for certain it would hit one of them, making this 'brilliant plan' of theirs pretty stupid.

Then, as Chara's ball hit Jacob's back as the pair spun, Jacob let go of Alex and sent him off to the left as he chucked a ball back at an insane speed, hitting Chara in the chest and bouncing off before she could even try to catch it. The hit sent her spinning for a moment, knocking into Verdana and sending them both to the ground.

Chara landed on her back as the force of the impact sent Verdana's legs out from under her, landing on top of her now-out partner. Verdana didn't let herself be embarrassed, getting up quickly and, grabbing a ball, tossed it at Alex. He hit the deck quickly, now leaving a single person on each team left. An equal amount of balls were on each side.

Chara, still lying on her back, seems to have developed a fatal error and has now crashed. Asriel laughed before running over, grabbing one of her hands, and he began to drag her off of the court.

Undyne was ecstatic, "Alright chumps! One on one! Let's do this!"

Verdana held a ball in each hand, and one in her tail, crouched a little to be able to dodge and throw. Alex got into a similar stance, one ball in each hand as he crouched on the toes of his shoes, ready to dash and throw in a moment's notice.

No one could tell who moved first, probably because they began their movement at the exact same time. Alex ran to his right, toward the line separating the two sides as fast as he could in an arc shape. He made a small hop, landing mere inches from the line before sending his momentum to his left, diving for the ground as he spun, throwing his first ball toward his opponent's legs before he left the ground.

Verdana threw one of hers at it, the one in her left hand, blocking it. As Alex was mid air, he threw his second and final ball towards her again, purposefully missing her as he landed on his side, right next to another ball waiting for him. He grabbed it quickly and turned back toward Verdana, holding the ball tightly in his dominant hand.

Verdana had thrown the one in her other hand at the Ball, not having seen the intended miss, leaving them both armed with one ball.

Then, before either of them could react to the other, they each threw their remaining ball at each other at full speed. Verdana's ball impacted Alex in the chest hard, sending him sliding back a few feet as he closed his eyes. The whole crowd gasped at the scene.

 ** _{End of music}_**

Alex opened his eyes and looked down to see he held Verdana's ball in his arms in front of his chest, successfully getting her out. He felt his smile grow as he looked up to see Verdana's expression… of smugness, his ball in her hands. Both of their sets of eyes/ eye-sockets widened as they both focused on the opposite's ball held closely to their chests. Everyone was silent.

Undyne jumped up and cheered, shouting as loud as she could, which was REALLY loud, "WWWHHHOOOOOOOAAAAA YYYEEAAAAHHHH! That's was fuc-reaking awesome!" She was so excited she nearly let a curse slip... almost...

"So… d-d-do b-b-b-both teams w-win?" Verdana questioned. Alex nodded in agreement, wondering the same thing. Deep down, he was hoping ONLY HE would be declared the winner so he wouldn't be forced to honor his deal with Chara.

Undyne rapidly nodded, "Hell yeah! That was amazing! Best class ever! We TOTALLY have to do this again though!" Before anyone could say anything else, the bell began to ring throughout the gym. "Damn, guess we'll have to do me versus the two winning teams another day!"

The students rapidly dispersed to get changed before going to their next class. The next period went by in a daze after the epic dodgeball battle, both Chara and Alex dreading the other's insistence on honoring the deal. Soon enough, the next class ended and everyone ran out to lunch.

* * *

It was a beautiful day outside, birds are singing, flowers are blooming, on days like these, kids like them… dread the thought of honoring their bet. There was a decent breeze blowing as everyone went to their usual tables for lunch, lunchboxes or bags in their hands as they prepared to eat. Even after spending so much energy on dodgeball, however, Chara and Alex weren't feeling too hungry, which confused everyone else at the table.

"Chara, how are you not hungry after PE?" Asriel asked, before taking another bite of his sandwich.

Chara just continued poking her food in front of her. She looked up for a moment before resuming her useless activity, "I'm fine. I'm just tired…" She partially lied.

"I-i t-t-think h-her a-and a-a-alex m-ma-made a bet, a-and t-they just d-don't w-wanna honor it," Verdana said, having heard the two mumbling but not knowing the words.

Chara's blush returned, in a similar fashion to how it looked when Verdana landed atop her during the game. She promptly hid her face in her hands. Alex, on the other hand, tried his best to blow it off, "I-I don't know what you mean Verdana. W-we were just trash talking, right Chara?!"

Chara nodded with her face still in her hands, mumbling through them, "Y-yeah, that's all th-that happened!"

While the two were denying it, Verdanas eye was yellow. "T-t-they lied," She said simply. Alex's eyes widened for a moment before he turned away, not allowing Frisk to see the blush now on his face as well. He had to think of something fast.

"W-well Ver-verdana… Y-you see…" He began before an idea came to him, "The deal doesn't h-have to be honored now. W-we have time to discuss the t-terms and such."

Chara's eyes widened and she stopped hiding her face in her hands, "Y-yeah…" She began before quickly stopping and remaining quiet. She felt like she should really honor the agreement since they both technically DID do the best. "S-so… about that dance this weekend…" She began.

Frisk smiled widely, "Yeah, I'm so excited. Mom already helped me find a dress to wear!" She beamed, looking excited. Alex managed a slightly bigger smile now, seeing her so excited.

Asriel started smirking for a moment, "Oh yeah, I have an outfit that dad helped me with." He smirked a bit more now, "Are any of you going to the dance with anyone?!" He asked, looking at both Chara and Alex. Alex looked away while Chara glared back at him.

MK bounced in his seat, "Nah, I'll just go by myself. What about you guys?" He asked, looking at everyone else. He looked at Verdana for a moment, "Are you going Verdana? Yo, you should, like, totally go if you're not already planning on it!" He said with a wide grin.

"I-i dunno…" Verdana mumbled, squirming a bit. Chara was visibly biting her lip now, her heart nearly beating out of her chest.

"I… Uh…" She suddenly got up from the table and stood up, "I… ha-have to use th-the bathr-r-r-oom!" She quickly stuttered before taking off back inside in fear.

Frisk got up and looked everyone else, "I-I'll go talk to her…" She said sadly, before walking off after her. Everyone at the table was silent for a moment.

"Y-yo, what was that about?" MK questioned, looking confused. Asriel sighed before nudging Alex with an elbow, getting his attention.

"W-what Az?" Alex asked, looking a bit flustered.

He smirked at him, "C'mon, you saw how excited she is for the dance." He said, nudging him again, "So, you gonna man up and ask her?" Alex put his hands over his face as he laid it down upon the table, groaning sadly.

"W-w-was t-t-that w-what the b-bet was a-about?" Verdana asked, guessing.

Alex didn't form an intelligent answer and simply groaned again in frustration, mostly with himself. MK suddenly stood up, "Whoa, you should totally ask her, dude!" Alex simply responded with yet another groan.

"I-i b-b-bet s-she'd g-g-get super happy…" Verdana trailed off.

Alex finally DIDN'T respond with a groan and looked up at the other residents at the table, "Y-you c-c-can't rush th-this…" He said, refusing to make eye contact with anyone, "I-I'll a-ask h-h-h-her l-later… wh-when I'm r-ready…" He said, before putting his head back down onto the table. Verdana shrugged a little, eating her food.

* * *

Frisk found Chara sitting in the hallway in a ball, right next to the door she entered the school from. She slowly approached the girl, "H-hey Chara…" She began slowly

Chara looked up for a moment, Frisk noticing tears actively going down her face. Chara's eyes were now red, but it wasn't just from her pupils. She put her head back into her lap, "G-go away Frisk!" She stammered out.

Frisk disobeyed her, and sat beside her in the hallway, wrapping an arm around her and pulling Chara in for a hug. She didn't resist, "F-Frisk… you know I'm not a h-hugger…" She complained without actually resisting. Frisk nodded and hummed in agreement, but still held her closely for a moment.

"Is… Is everything ok Chara?" Frisk asked quietly.

Chara looked up at her and shook her head, the tears slowly stopping, but leaving streaks down her cheeks, "No Frisk… I'm not okay…" She said sadly, "I'm… I'm such a coward Frisk…"

Frisk shook her head, "No! No, you're not a coward Chara!"

Chara shook her head too, "No… I am. I… I thought I was brave, helping you fight. Protecting you and everyone else. But in the end, I'm nothing more than a coward."

Frisk grabbed Chara's face and forced her to look into her eyes, looking directly at the Determination in Frisk's eyes, "You're not a coward." She said simply, stating it as fact.

"How do you know? We've known each other for not even a year, and you think you know me so well…"

"Well, after that time you spent in my head… I got to know you pretty well. You helped fight Azzy when he was bad. You helped me fight Gaster when he was bad. You're brave… and strong!"

Chara smiled weakly, wiping the remaining tears from her face. She let out a light sigh, "Frisk…" She looked back down at the ground, "I want to ask Verdana… but… what if she says no? And if I ruin our friendship?" She asked sadly, a hint of fear in her voice.

Frisk smiled gently at her sister, "No matter what, I'd doubt you could ever hurt your friendship with her." She said matter-of-factly, "Look, I'm not going to tell you that you HAVE to ask her… but know that you have to sometimes take a leap of faith…"

Chara didn't respond for a moment. Then, she wrapped both of her arms around Frisk, "Th-thanks Frisk!" She said, starting to smile again.

"No problem." She said, smiling widely as well, "Now why don't we head back out before they begin to worry?" Chara nodded before they both got up and walked back out the door.

* * *

Finally, after a few moments, Chara and Frisk returned together to the table. They sat down where they sat previously and neither said a word. No one said anything either for a moment, "Yo, you're back! You okay?" He asked.

Chara simply nodded, looking down at the table. Frisk responded, "Yeah, she just needed a sister-to-sister talk, that's all." She said, smiling warmly. Verdana smiled warmly at Chara, looking absolutely adorable. "You okay?" She asked.

Chara looked up at her for a moment and swallowed harshly. "V-verdana…?" She asked slowly.

"Y-yeah?" The skeleton girl questioned back, tilting her head, an adorable curious look on her face.

Chara stood up quickly, but rather than run off again, she stood her ground and looked down at Verdana. "W-would you l-l-like to g-g-go t-to the dance w-with me?!" She asked as quickly as she could, stuttering frequently. Before she could get a response, she sat back down in her seat, looking away in shame as a blush formed, already expecting the answer.

Verdana's sockets widened, a stunned look on her face as it erupted into a blush, before she leapt towards Chara, hugging her from behind. "Y-y-yes!" She said.

Chara's eyes widened in shock, before a smile grew onto her face. She turned back around and hugged her back, "R-really?!" She asked, surprised by her quick acceptance. She nodded, looking up at her, a look of pure _joy_ and _happiness_ on her face. If one were to CHECK her, you'd see she had just gained about three thousand HP.

Chara started giggling like a little girl in excitement. She wasn't expecting a yes. Verdana nuzzled Chara's chest, absolutely beaming. They were so excited, they stayed like that a little longer, no awkward or embarrassed blush appeared on either of their faces for the rest of the day.

Alex was put into a bind now, though. He knew Chara wouldn't have any MERCY on him if he chickened out. Luckily, he still had till the end of the day, which was fine. He wanted to ask her in private anyway…

* * *

After dropping Verdana off for the day at school, Gaster began searching for Sans. He knew that he never returned home last night except to swap the note out for the sweater. And, he knew he wasn't going to show up at work right now, after the stunt he pulled with taking that coat he gave her. He decided to start his search in the mostly likely location…

Gaster appeared in the doorway entrance to Grillby's. Or, the new and improved Grillby's on the surface. This one was modeled exactly like the one in the Underground, except with an added deck for patrons on the outside, and another equal-sized room on the right side of it. Here on the surface, Grillby was really rolling in the dough… figuratively that is.

Standing a few feet away, standing with some menus, stood a familiar skeleton. "HEY DAD! WHAT BRINGS YOU HERE?!" Papyrus called out upon seeing Gaster. He had forgotten for a moment that Papyrus had gotten a job here. Grillby was managing fine in the Underground, but the larger location was starting to take a toll on the fire-elemental, thus he sought out help. In fact, somehow… Papyrus managed to get the old monster to add spaghetti to the menu.

Gaster sighed, **_"Hello Papyrus. I'm actually looking for Sans."_** He answered honestly.

Papyrus began stroking his chin for a moment, "HMM, I HAVEN'T SEEN HIM TODAY. MAYBE GRILLBY KNOWS?!" He suggested, motioning towards the bar where the monster stood, cleaning a glass. Gaster nodded and sent a thankful smile to Papyrus before approaching the bar.

 ** _"_** ** _Good morning Grillby."_** Gaster began, **_"Have you seen Sans recently?"_**

Grillby looked up at him and slowly nodded, "...Yes." His voice was low and quiet.

Gaster's sockets widened, **_"Do you know where he is? Where he went? What happened?"_**

Grillby put the glass in his hand down for a moment, "...He was here nearly all night… but he left before Papyrus' shift… I believe I heard him say something about… honey…" He said, trying to recall any important details.

Gaster thought for a moment before nodding, **_"Thank you Grillby. I'll be on my way."_**

Before Gaster could go to leave, he heard Grillby speak again, "...wait! ...Sans… he seemed distant and dark last night… Be careful with him…" Gaster smiled weakly and nodded before vanishing from his spot in Grillby's.

* * *

Just a moment later, Gaster appeared outside a small, purple building only a few blocks away from Grillby's. There was a large window showing off various pastries to the passersby, each looking delicious. He stepped inside Muffet's Parlor after just another moment, determined to find Sans.

The parlor was actually a cute little store, the walls painted a light shade of purple with a few cobwebs scattered about. At the counter stood Muffet, who smiled upon seeing Gaster, "Good morning dearie, care for a spider donut?" She asked in a friendly manner.

Before responding, he looked over to the far corner to see Sans sitting alone, back turned towards him. Gaster approached the counter and purchased a single donut since he had a small breakfast. "Thank you so much dearie, hope you have a good day!" She said with a smile as Gaster approached Sans' table.

Sans, back still turned toward Gaster, noticed his presence. He had a jar of honey, which only contained about half of its original contents. He spoke as Gaster stood there behind him, picking up the jar and looking at its contents as he spoke.

 _"_ _heh, you know, i would've never thought that honey would be a good drink. a bit sweeter than i'd like, and not as good as ketchup… but still pretty good."_ Sans shook his head for a moment, _"heh, guess at least one good thing came outta another timeline…"_ He said the last part a little quieter.

Gaster sighed, walked around Sans, and took a seat across from him. They sat there for a moment in complete silence besides Muffet's humming and the quiet tune playing in the background.

Sans spoke again, _"ya know… i keep thinking back to last night. everything you haven't told anyone… i think i understand what you were saying about her. but… then again, if she weren't this thing she looks like she might be, then why'd you lie? why'd you feel that keeping the truth from your own son was a good idea?"_

Gaster sighed, **_"Sans… I'm sorry for not telling you. I'm sorry for keeping the truth from you, and Papyrus, and everyone else."_** He slowly said.

Sans sighed, _"g… when we all lost you to the void, i was broken up… and it was worse, knowing no one else even cared. they didn't even know you existed…"_

 ** _"_** ** _Sans… I-"_** Gaster tried, wanting to comfort his son.

 _"_ _no. just listen. i had to grow up quick for the sake of paps. life was hard… i learned many bitter truths through my experiences. i have had to suffer through so much, but you know what hurts even more?"_ He asked rhetorically, not looking Gaster in the eye.

 _"_ _it's when my own father, after not seeing him in decades, returns after having seen everything i've gone through… but even then, tries to hide the truth from me, thinking that i… 'can't handle knowing' and all that bullshit."_ He looked up, setting his jar of honey down without taking a sip. He looked into Gaster's eye-sockets.

 _"_ _i know about core frisk. i know that verdana also goes by the name rindie. i know that you've been working so hard to prevent another some other being from coming here and killing us. the real question i have is… why couldn't you tell me?"_

Gaster looked at him, responding slowly, **_"How did you figure this all out?"_**

Sans let out a weak chuckle, _"when i've been stuck in all those resets, i learned how to conceal my knowledge from others, but i've also learned how to get more."_ His pupils dimmed, _"you're not as good at hiding and erasing evidence as i am… i've seen the 'erased' camera footage… and i've been paying much closer attention than anyone thinks i am…"_ He said, looking down again and frowning.

 _"_ _ya know, i thought that the experiments that made me never forget anything were a hindrance… but i might have actually found a use for everything i've learned… you still haven't answer my question father…"_

Gaster frowned, looking away for a moment. Then he looked back, **_"Have you seen Verdana get mad before? Have you seen her ever try to hurt someone, excluding the Fell versions?"_** Gaster smiled a bit, thinking about Verdana, **_"Did you ever see her do anything to hurt someone else? Like the bully at school?"_**

Sans didn't speak. His silence giving Gaster his answer, **_"If you know everything, then you should have seen the LV and hate in conflict with her soul. The LV was artificially given to her, and like a snowball, as accidents occurred, her existing LV latched onto it, growing in size… but she never let her soul absorb it."_**

Gaster looked at Sans for his response, _"i've seen the footage. and... you're right, she never really did anything violent except for the outburst yesterday."_

Gaster reached out and put a hand on his son's shoulder, **_"Sans, I never thought you couldn't handle knowing this… it's that you shouldn't… like you said, you've been through alot, and… I simply wished that you'd not have to have any more on your plate."_**

Sans' mouth twisted into a weak, but genuine, smile, _"i understand g… but at the same time, you're here."_ He said, motioning to his surroundings, _"back in reality. you aren't in the void, where you're all alone. i can help… we can help. just let us g…"_

Gaster smiled weakly and nodded, **_"Perhaps… it is time I filled everyone in on what's going on…"_** Then he frowned for a moment, **_"But Sans… about Verdana…"_**

Sans nodded, pulling out her coat in his hand, _"yeah, yeah, i know. it was a low blow, even for me."_ He said, sounding apologetic, _"i… i honestly thought she'd been lying too, knowing exactly who she was…"_ He smiled a bit wider, _"but don't worry dad, i won't say nothin until you're ready to."_

Gaster smiled as they both stood up and approached each other, Gaster wrapping his arms around his son in a hug. They stood there a moment before breaking up the hug, but both were smiling now. Gaster looked down at Sans, **_"You're still going to have to apologize to her though."_**

 _"_ _k."_

 ** _"_** ** _And give her back her coat when she gets home!"_**

 _"_ _k."_

 ** _"_** ** _Sans, stop it!"_**

 _"_ _k."_

 ** _"_** ** _You know… you're still grounded for hurting Verd like that!"_**

Sans, deciding it was best not to respond with another 'k', sighed and shrugged, _"whatever. now, should we get back to the lab to get some work done?"_

Gaster would have raised an eyebrow if he had one, but made that type of motion anyway, **_"You're… actually suggesting we go get some work done?"_**

Sans shrugged, _"if you're expecting me to say it again, you're outta luck. gotta keep my reputation intact."_ He said, winking somehow. Gaster chuckled a little bit as they both vanished, heading back to his lab to get some work done before picking up Verdana from school.

* * *

Today had been an exhausting day. After the events of PE and Lunch, the rest of the day went by without much incident. Chara and Verdana were beaming for the rest of the day, and almost everyone else joined in when Asgore showed up to pick them up from school today. Toriel made a delicious meal after she got home, and everyone wolfed it down after their tiring day as the sun set.

That is… except for Alex. You see, instead, Alex had been caught up in stress since the end of PE, which was only amplified after lunch. Currently, every moment that went by, the stress increased tenfold for him. It didn't help that Asriel and Chara kept teasing himself and Frisk. It certainly didn't help that Chara had only reminded him a freakin' hundred times already to honor the deal.

Now, Alex was pacing back and forth in his and Asriel's room. After Chara returned, the four were split into two rooms, one for the boys and one for the girls. Currently, everyone else in the house was downstairs watching a movie together on the TV, the world was dark outside as the time of the day only grew closer to resetting. He didn't really care much for which film it was, because he was too busy worrying.

Alex sat down on his bed and began smacking himself in the head in frustration, "Grrraaahhh, you're an idiot!" He said to himself, still extremely stressed and frustrated. He wanted to ask, but was afraid. And because he was afraid, he was frustrated with himself. And because time went on with him NOT asking her, his stress level increased, making him only more frustrated, which in turn continued to raise his stress.

He was interrupted from his thoughts by a voice. "No you're not." Said the quiet, calm voice coming from the direction of the door. Alex looked up and saw Frisk standing in the doorway. She was wearing a pair of soft, pink sweatpants with an adorable matching pink shirt. Even in the dim lighting of the room, she looked beautiful.

He chuckled lightly, looking away from her, not responding as a blush grew on his face. "I-I'm sorry, did I come in at a bad time?"

Alex sighed and looked back at Frisk, worry was in her beautiful brown eyes. He managed a weak smile, "Yeah, why are you worrying about me? I thought you were enjoying the movie?"

She smiled weakly too, a small blush appeared on her face as well as she tried to dig her toes into the carpet beneath her, staring at it as well as she spoke, "W-well… you usually like those comedies, and you weren't there watching it with us, so I was worried." She looked back up at him with a small, sad frown, "And… you've looked unhappy today. Is it because we didn't win?" She ask innocently.

Alex hated seeing her frown like that, it hurt him a little bit, seeing her like that. "I… I'm sorry for making you worry like that Frisk. And… I guess I am a little bit…" He admitted.

She smiled and nodded, "Alright." She pointed with her thumb over her shoulder towards the hallway, "S-should I go then?" Alex didn't respond, so she tried to maintain a weak smile as she turned around to leave the room.

"F-Frisk, w-w-wait!" Alex called after her.

She stopped in her tracks and turned around to have him, a real smile returning to her face, "P-please… you don't have to go yet. I'd… I'd like to talk with you for a bit…" He said, smiling weakly at her.

She nodded, reentering the room and closing the door behind her as she approached the bed. She stopped right next to Alex before sitting beside him. He looked down at himself for a moment and frowned. He was currently wearing a pair of basketball shorts and a plain-white t-shirt. He felt kinda ashamed that he wasn't wearing anything better right now.

"What do you wanna talk about?"

Alex smiled at her beside him, feeling his heart rate increase, "S-so, Chara asked Verdana to the dance." He started.

Her eyes were nearly sparkling, "I know! Isn't that romantic?! I'm so proud of Chara, and I'm sure she's happy too!" She said, her smile infecting Alex as he grew a similar one.

"Y-yeah, that was pretty cool." Alex said weakly and quietly, getting Frisk's attention.

"Alex… you've been so stressed out and quiet ever since Chara asked her… Did… did you want to ask Verdana too?" She asked, doing her best to mask any hurt in her eyes, which vanished upon seeing Alex quickly shake his head.

"No, no… that's not it…" He said, still being quiet.

Frisk put a hand on his shoulder to try to comfort him, "Alex? Please, what's wrong? You can tell me, I won't get mad." She said, her concern showing clearly in her eyes. It hurt Alex a bit more, especially as his heart threatened to burst from his chest at the rate it was pumping.

"I…" Frisk leaned forward a bit, looking into his eyes with her deep brown ones. Alex sat up a bit straighter…

"F-Frisk…" He began.

"Yes?" She responded, slowly.

"W-would you like to go to the dance? W-with me?" He asked slowly, trying his best not to stutter. They both sat there in silence for a moment, making Alex lose hope. He frowned, trying to think of a way out of this. Maybe… some way to say he was just kidding… o-or that Chara made him say it…

He was interrupted from his thoughts by a tackle. Frisk's arms wrapped around his body as she held him close. Both fell onto the bed, with Frisk atop Alex. He froze as he felt Frisk shaking on top of him. He hoped he hadn't just made Frisk cry because of his question, which would make him feel much worse. Then, he heard her giggling. Did she think it was a joke? He figured that'd be better than her crying, but not by much…

She tore her head away from his chest and looked into his eyes, tears were forming in them as she smiled at him with one of the biggest smiles he's seen her wear. He couldn't help but smile back at her.

"O-of course I'll go with you!" She beamed excitedly before clutching him even tighter. Hearing those words… Alex felt like a huge burden had been lifted from his chest. He couldn't help the huge smile now on his own face. He felt… he felt happiness flood his entire body as he began to laugh as well.

He laughed as he wrapped his arms around her as well, nuzzling his head on top of hers, feeling her soft hair with his face and he held her close. He was so happy. So relieved. He could just lay here with her forever, and die happy. He held her close as they both laid there, happy as can be and both really looking forward to the dance this Saturday.

Just outside the door, listening in to the entire conversation were Asriel and Chara. Chara was satisfied that Alex held up his end of the deal, but both her and Asriel were smirking in success. They had finally gotten their first real victory in getting the other two humans together. But… they had no plans on stopping. But… little did they know, Alex and Frisk knew about their schemes and plots. And they were plotting revenge. A dish of revenge served colder than Frisk's first encounter with Papyrus' spaghetti…

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _Here's the moment you've all been waiting for. It looks like Frisk and Alex are finally getting together and realizing how much they mean to each other. Plus… Chara's found a bit of lowercase love too. For the time being, hope you've enjoyed the ride so far and this chapter. More coming soon, so stay tuned!  
_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	19. Dating, START

The rest of the week had gone by pretty fast now. Alex and Frisk have been barely able to keep themselves together in anticipation, much like Chara and Verdana. Once Gaster found out about that Chara asked Verdana, he was beaming, going on and on about finding Verdana the perfect dress for the dance.

Sans also apologized to Verdana for his behavior, returning the coat with a little bonus to show how sorry he was… a purple scarf. After all, he had experience making some clothing when he worked with Papyrus to make his battle body, so he made another cool scarf for her to have as well. She, of course, forgave him and was beaming at the sight of another gift, which made him chuckle.

Back with the Dreemurrs, Toriel and Asgore quickly learned of Alex asking Frisk to go to the dance, which they weren't against in the least. After all, Toriel and Asgore had seen the way they looked and talked about each other, even before they adopted them. Alex picked out an outfit with Asgore that Thursday, preparing himself for the dance.

But… now it was Friday. School's final bell had just rung, and the students were now free for the weekend. The dance would be tomorrow evening, and everyone was excited for it.

The four Dreemurrs and Verdana all walked outside together, leaving the school in a single group. Today, Gaster was busy in the lab, so Papyrus would be picking them all up today… somehow… None of them were holding hands with each other yet, mostly due to nothing really happening romance-wise besides the single question that Alex and Chara asked, but that didn't stop a bit of affection from showing.

Chara and Verdana walked closely together, occasionally brushing shoulders. With the other pair, Alex and Frisk, Alex had his arm around Frisk's neck and resting on her opposite shoulder. Poor, poor Asriel walked between the two pairs as they continued further. He was really starting to doubt his plots to get the pairs together now…

Now, they all approached Papyrus' car, with the tall skeleton, himself, waiting for them with a hug smile. "HELLO EVERYONE! HOW WAS YOUR DAY AT SCHOOL?!"

"Too slow." Alex responded quickly, Frisk nodding in agreement beside him.

"Kinda boring…" Asriel added, frowning at both pairs beside him. When his frown met Chara, she glared at him for a moment, making him look away.

"WHAT ABOUT YOU VERDANA? HAS YOUR WEEK BEEN BETTER AFTER SANS APOLOGIZED?" He asked, nodding at her with her newly returned jacket and newly added scarf, which matched in style with Papyrus'.

"Yeah, a lot better," Verdana said with a smile, leaning on Chara. Chara didn't flinch, only smiling a bit wider when she did so.

Papyrus rubbed his chin, "EXCELLENT. WELL, I WAS IN GRILLBY'S, WORKING TODAY, WHEN I HEARD SOME FANTASTIC NEWS!" He said, smiling still.

Asriel tilted his head, "What, is there a Spaghetti Cooking Competition?"

Papyrus straightened up immediately, eye-sockets wide with excitement, "W-WOWIE! TH-THOSE EXIST!?" The kids chuckled and laughed a bit before Papyrus shook his head for a moment, "UNFORTUNATELY, NO. BUT, THERE'S A CARNIVAL IN TOWN FOR A WEEK!" He said, still beaming and not looking at all disappointed by the lack of a spaghetti competition.

Frisk jumped a bit in place, "Whoa! A carnival?! Can we go Papyrus? Ppppllleeaassseeeee!?" She nearly begged, making Alex let out a single laugh before agreeing.

Papyrus paused a moment, "WELL… THERE AREN'T ANY PLANS FOR THE REST OF THE DAY… BUT EVERYONE HAS TO AGREE!" He said, looking at everyone else, trying to mask his own excitement for the carnival, which he was failing at.

Asriel shrugged, "Sure, that sounds fun." Chara didn't answer besides a smile, looking to her left at Verdana to see her answer. She looked pretty cute to Chara today, especially since her tear stains were now nothing but a distant memory. She wore her favorite coat, which traveled the length of her arms to her wrists, and was slightly too big for her, which she liked about it. Around her was the lab coat Gaster gave her, wrapped around to look almost like a cape, with the newly added purple scarf around her neck, over the top of the lab coat.

"It can be a date for us," Verdana whispered to Chara, blushing a little. Chara felt a blush of her own now form, which surprised her a bit since she hasn't had one form for the last few days. Somehow, Papyrus heard her.

"WOWIE!" He exclaimed, intertwining her fingers together as he clasped both hands in front of him, "A DATE?! WE'LL HAVE TO SWING BY HOME FIRST THOUGH. AND GRAB MY DATING MANUAL!" Frisk couldn't help the snort that came out her her mouth as she began to laugh at the mention of his 'manual'. Unlike Frisk, Chara and Verdana began to blush more now.

After spending time with the skeletons previously, Alex laughed a bit too, having already read this 'manual' of his. "P-papyrus, maybe we don't need that book. Ever heard of spontaneous?" he asked gently, trying to spare Verdana and Chara from the book.

Papyrus stroked his chin in thought, "HMMM… PERHAPS…"

Chara cut him off from his thoughts, "H-hey Papyrus, what about t-the carnival?"

Papyrus smacked his cheekbone with a hand, "OH YES, SILLY ME!" He then ran to the other side of the car and climbed in, "ALRIGHT THEN, ALL ABOARD!" Then, he began to actually count the number of passengers he was going to have, "HMM, IT SEEMS WE DO NOT HAVE ENOUGH SEATS AND SEAT BELTS…"

"I-i-i c-c-could s-sit in C-charas lap," Verdana said, blushing a bit more.

Papyrus thought about the proposal for a moment, "WELL…"

 _"_ _seems like you're in a jam."_

Papyrus shrieked, turning to see Sans sitting in the passenger's seat beside him, having not previously existed there a moment ago. "S-SANS!" He yelled.

 _"_ _yeah, that's my name."_ He said, smiling at Papyrus' response.

"STOP THAT!"

 _"_ _c'mon paps, i'm here to help."_ Sans said, shrugging innocently. He looked over and sent a quick glance towards Verdana and Chara standing side-by-side.

Papyrus' expression changed to one of shock, "R-REALLY?! YOU'RE ACTUALLY HERE TO BE HELPFUL?"

Sans nodded, _"'course i am. i'm always here to lend a helping hand for my little bro and sis."_ He said, smiling still. _"so, you said you don't have enough seats? that sounds abseatlutely horrible, but i can help!"_

Papyrus sighed, "I'LL IGNORE THE STUPID PUN SINCE YOU SEEM WILLING TO HELP…"

Sans nodded and exited the car. Not by opening the door and standing up, but by teleporting right between Verdana and Chara, separating the pair and earning a dirty look from Chara.

 _"_ _since you can only fit yourself and four kids, i'll shortcut myself and chara, here, to the fairgrounds and wait for ya."_

"WOWIE, YOU'D REALLY DO THAT FOR US?!" Papyrus said, beaming. Sans shrugged and nodded, smiling just a little wider… unlike how Chara was currently feeling. Asriel snickered a bit, while taking a step back from her. "THANK YOU SANS. WE'LL SEE YOU THERE THEN!"

 _"_ _k."_ Sans reached out and grabbed Chara's wrist before she could argue and they both vanished from sight.

Papyrus was still smiling, "I'M SO PROUD OF HIM, STEPPING UP TO HELP LIKE THAT. I THINK I MAY BE FINALLY RUBBING OFF ON HIM! NYEH HEH HEH!" He laughed, waving the other kids into the car as they climbed in. Verdana did not look particularly pleased by this turn of events.

"W-well, we should get g-going now," Verdana said. "W-we don't wanna make them wait."

Papyrus gasped, "YOU'RE RIGHT! LET'S GO!" HE shouted as he turned the car on and sped out of the parking lot towards the carnival, which was luckily only a few minutes away.

* * *

Sans and Chara reappeared right outside the carnival's main entrance, standing in the parking lot. The two of them remained silent for a moment, Chara refusing to say anything to the skeleton who brought her here as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.

 _"_ _heh, what's wrong chara?"_ Sans asked, still standing beside her but not looking directly at her either.

She narrowed her eyes and turned toward the skeleton, glaring at him, "What the hell, Sans?! Why'd you go and do that for? You could've taken Asriel!"

Sans shrugged, still maintaining his smile despite the look he was receiving from Chara, _"lemme be asrieal as i can for a moment with ya."_ He said, smirking, _"so, you and verd… i heard ya asked her to the dance tomorrow…"_

She maintained her angry appearance, "Yeah? So?" She questioned, not intimidated by the skeleton in the least.

He shrugged again, _"i've seen the way she smiles when she talks about you after school. i've seen the way you 'accidentally' make contact with each other. ya know, i'm happy frisk convinced ya to ask her, cause she sure is happy."_

Chara's expression only darkened, "How'd you know about Frisk talking with me?" She asked, starting to get angrier at the skeleton.

Sans' smile turned into a bit of a smirk, _"c'mon pal, we both know how observant i am…"_ Then he shrugged again and shook his head, _"...but… that's not what i wanted to talk to you about. ya see, i don't really have a problem with you being with her…"_

Chara's expression softened a bit, but remained a bit angry, "Then why'd you pull me out here? Just to reveal how much of a creep you are?"

Sans laughed for a moment, wiping away a tear from his socket from his laughter, _"nah, you haven't seen anythin' yet… but anyway…"_

His expression turned more serious, both sockets turning completely black. His smile seemed much more menacing when he looked like this. Chara couldn't help the small amount of fear that formed inside her. She'd seen Sans get serious like this… but never from her own eyes, which made it all the more terrifying.

 _"_ _verd... she's a sensitive one, ya know? she doesn't really handle some things real well, but you've seemed to help her out quite a bit, so you have my thanks… but…"_ He extended his hand slightly, turned her soul blue and locking her in place, increasing the gravity a bit on her,

He took a step closer to her, her red eyes wide with fear now, _"if you ever even think about hurting her, you'd better find a place my shortcuts can't reach… 'cause you'll be in for a real bad time… am i clear?!"_ He asked, prompting Chara to quickly nod her head up and down in agreement.

Suddenly, a familiar red car pulled into the parking lot, approaching the two of them. Sans used his magic to quickly force Chara to his side as he wrapped a boney arm around her in a friendly manner. He quickly undid his blue magic on her after that as the car pulled up in a space right next to them.

Sans, with both pupils returned now, and a more friendly smile on his face, spoke up a bit as the passengers of the car approached them, _"ya see chara, i told you they'd be here on time. you didn't need to worry about them."_ He said with a large grin.

"WOWIE! YOU WERE WORRIED ABOUT US? DO NOT WORRY CHARA, THE GREAT PAPYRUS COULD NEVER BE LATE!" He said, beaming and completely ignoring the look on Chara's face that told everyone that she had done more than 'worry about being on time'.

Asriel looked at the pair, began to smirk, and ran over to Chara, lightly punching her in the shoulder, "Yeah sis, no need to worry about us… But I'm glad you and Sans seem to be getting along!"

Sans shrugged, _"i can't help that i'm so approachable. it's like you all can see right through me."_ Papyrus shrieked in annoyance, "BE QUIET SANS!" Everyone laughed a bit at the antics. While Alex and Frisk stayed next to each other, Verdana walked over to Chara to see how she was doing.

"You okay?" Verdana asked her, not having been fooled for a second with Sans' lie. Chara, now recovering from her previous conversation, calmed down for a moment as she allowed her heart rate to return to a more normal speed.

She managed a smile after a moment, "Y-yeah. I'm fine… now, at least." She answered, smiling a bit wider now as she looked at Verdana. Verdana smiled back, grabbing her hand and squeezing comfortingly.

Papyrus interrupted everyone, "NOW THEN, SHALL WE BEGIN OUR ADVENTURE AT THE CARNIVAL?!" Everyone agreed as they walked in, bought several tickets and such, and began to figure out what to do first.

Frisk grabbed Alex's arm and pulled it a bit in excitement, pointing at a familiar stand with a familiar looked rabbit monster standing there. "A-Alex, let's go get some Nice Cream!" Not waiting for his response, she nearly ripped his arm out of it's socket as she took off, nearly dragging him, as they went to the Nice Cream stand.

Papyrus sighed, "SANS, WE NEED TO KEEP WATCH OVER THEM. AS THE RESPONSIBLE ADULTS, WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THEY REMAIN SAFE!"

Sans smiled a bit wider before hiding it and returning it to its normal size, _"i got an idea paps. since i don't help out as much, i'll watch these three if you go and watch frisk and alex?"_ Chara's eyes widened for a moment, just like Papyrus' sockets, though for two completely different reasons.

"SANS, YOU'RE SO RESPONSIBLE. YOU'RE MAKING ME SO… SO HAPPY!" Papyrus said as tears of joy began to form in his sockets.

Sans walked a few steps and gave Papyrus a hug, _"guess i'm learning a thing or two from my great little bro!"_ Papyrus picked him up off the ground and spun in a circle, happy as can be.

After a moment, he put them down, "YES, THANK YOU SANS!" He then turned to Chara, Verdana, and Asriel, "I KNOW YOU ARE ALL SHOCKED BY MY BROTHER'S MATURITY, BUT WORRY NOT! I WILL BE BACK LATER WITH FRISK AND ALEX. HAVE FUN!" He said as he dashed away to follow after the other two kids.

Sans chuckled for a moment with a big smile on his face, partially because of how happy Papyrus was. The rest of the reason… well, let's just say Chara's expression on her face had something to do with it.

He turned back to them, _"heh, so what do you all wanna do first?"_ He asked them all, smiling widely.

Verdana shrugged, looking around for something. Chara, trying to ignore Sans' presence, pointed at a Roller Coaster nearby with one hand while reaching over and holding Verdana's hand in the other. "How about that?"

"Sure!" Verdana said. It even barely had a line! Asriel nodded in agreement as well.

Sans shrugged, _"sure, sounds like fun."_ They all walked over to the ride and handed off their tickets as they go up to the front of the line. They all climbed into the seat of the ride, two riders per row. Luckily, Sans was feeling pretty nice at the moment, and sat next to Asriel. Chara led Verdana to the front of the ride, wishing to sit in the very front.

"Now we won't get puked on," Verdana whispered to Chara, giggling. She nodded as they took their seats. The bar in front of them went down over all of their laps as the ride prepared to launch. After the ride operator went over all the mandatory safety warnings, it prepared to launch… in 3… 2… 1…

The roller coaster launched forward at a quick speed for only a second before it began to climb to the top of the first hill at a slower speed. Chara was bouncing in place a bit in excitement. Verdana leaned a bit on her, beaming in excitement as well. When they reached the peak, which wasn't too high, luckily, they launched forward at a much quicker speed, weaving back and forth, up and down quickly. Chara held both hands up in excitement as they zoomed around the track.

The entire time they were riding, they heard the sound of a girl screaming, making them both laugh the entire time as well. Unfortunately for the pair, the ride ended far too quickly as they soon returned to the starting platform. All the bars on the ride lifting in sync with one another as both girls in the front jumped up and off the ride in excitement.

"That was so fun!" Verdana said. Chara nodded in agreement as they both stood to the side, waiting for Sans and Asriel to arrive. When they did, Sans was laughing continuously as Asriel had a look of anger and frustration on his face with both arms folded across his chest, pouting.

Chara looked at Verdana, and then to the other two for a moment, "That was awesome! Did you all hear the girl screaming?! That was hilarious!" Sans fell to the ground now, laughing even harder. Asriel, on the other hand, looked away as a blush of embarrassment formed on his face. Chara did her best not to laugh at seeing this, but was finding it very hard to do so ash she connected the dots.

"W-was that you, Asriel?" Verdana asked, giggling.

Asriel, still looking away, tried his best to deny it, "N-n-n-nooooo!" This was the last straw, and it caused Chara to fall onto the ground with Sans, laughing as well.

"Oh. my. god. That WAS you!" She exclaimed, "That's hilarious!" After a moment, she and Sans recovered enough to stand back up. "That… was priceless!" She added as they began to walk back outside to find another attraction to try.

"N-no, th-that wasn't funny!" Asriel demanded.

Sans shrugged, _"i dunno, that was pretty funny to me…"_ He said, grinning.

"Guess he just has a different sense of femour" Verdana said through giggles. Sans laughed a bit harder, patting Verdana on the back lightly for a moment as he gave her a thumbs up.

Asriel narrowed his eyes, "W-whatever…" He smiled a bit, trying to change the subject, "Let's go check something else out!" He added.

"How about the mirror hall thing?" Verdana suggested.

Chara nodded enthusiastically, "Yeah, we can totally do that." She turned toward Asriel with a smirk, "You're not going to scream in there too, right?" Asriel puffed out his cheeks in annoyance and crossed his arms over his chest, refusing to answer her dumb question. Chara laughed at this before they all walked over to the building-thing with a ton of mirrors.

There was no line, and they handed over a few tickets as they walked inside, all staring in awe at the sheer amount of mirrors and reflections. Verdana giggled, one making her look like pap. "I look like Papyrus!" She exclaimed, giggling.

Chara smiled at her laughing, joining in and giggling a bit herself upon seeing her own wacky reflections. Sans stood in front of a mirror that made him look shorter and fatter, somehow. He smirked and snickered a bit, _"heh, i might have to reflect upon my life choices if this is how i look."_ Asriel rolled his eyes at his joke.

Sans shrugged before approaching another mirror that functioned normally, creating a perfect reflection, _"c'mon, dontcha you find this funny? i'm beside myself with joy."_ He said, his grin growing larger and larger. Chara snickered at his awful taste in puns.

Verdana shook her head. "Sans! Stop it with your insufferable humor!" Verdana said, imitating Papyrus.

Sans smirked and laughed, unable to come up with a response for a moment. _"heh heh, nice one sis. you mirrored paps pretty well there."_

Sans could almost imagine Papyrus screaming in anguish at his puns, wherever he was at the moment. Chara was laughing now, with Asriel finally joining in despite trying not to do so previously. They were all enjoying their time in this house of mirrors. After a few more enjoyable minutes with the mirrors, they left the building with large grins.

Chara was still smiling, as she turned to Verdana, "So, what next?" She asked as the sun began to set, making the sky turned a beautiful array of colors.

"Ferris wheel!" Verdana suggested, mostly wanting to just be alone with Chara.

Sans shrugged, _"sure, that sounds good."_ Asriel nodded in agreement as they all walked over toward the ferris wheel. They got there, turned in some tickets to hop aboard, and did so. The seats only sat two, so Asriel rid with Sans while Chara and Verdana got a seat together as well. They took their seats right as the ferris wheel began again, bringing them up higher, slowly. Chara wasn't a huge fan of heights, but didn't really mind it all too much.

Chara looked to her right, where Verdana was sitting, "Having fun today, Verd?" She said with a small, but genuine and gentle smile on her face.

"Yeah," Verdana said with a nod, looking at Chara with a cute, beaming smile.

Chara's heart raced a little as she leaned a bit closer to Verdana, still smiling like before. Unfortunately, before she could do anything, someone interrupted.

"WOWIE, YOU TWO ARE SO CUTE!" Chara looked out of the corner of her eye to see Papyrus riding in another seat directly behind them, with some sort of large rabbit beside him. He was beaming as he watched the two of them. Looking a bit closer, she also as Alex and Frisk sitting in the seat behind Papyrus, snickering. Most likely because of Papyrus' comment, which made Chara try to send them a glare, though they were probably too far away to see it.

* * *

Earlier…

Alex and Frisk were sitting down at a picnic table, enjoying their bars of Nice Cream. Frisk got chocolate, having grown to love it when Chara was sharing her body, while Alex decided to try Pistachio flavored. Although an odd flavor, it was pretty good in his opinion. They sat there, slowly enjoying their Nice Cream for a bit as Papyrus came over, the other four members of their party nowhere to be seen.

"GREETINGS ALEX AND FRISK! HOW IS YOUR TREAT?"

"Great! It is, after all…" Alex began, smiling as Frisk joined him for the rest of the sentence in sync, "The frozen treat that warms your heart!" They both said, laughing together.

Papyrus rubbed his chin, "HMMM, I HAVE ONLY EVER TRIED THIS 'NICE CREAM' ONCE! DO YOU THINK HE HAS SPAGHETTI FLAVOR?" He asked, honestly wondering. Both Alex and Frisk chuckled for a moment.

"I dunno Pap, why don't you ask what flavors he has?" Frisk suggested. Papyrus' sockets widened as he nodded and ran a few feet away to see the Nice Cream man.

Together alone for a bit, Alex and Frisk sat there, enjoying their Nice Cream in silence for a moment. "I'm r-really glad you said 'yes', Frisk…" He said quietly, smiling at Frisk gently.

Frisk smiled widely and nodded, "And I'm glad you finally asked!" They both laughed a bit, sitting side-by-side on the picnic table. After a moment, Papyrus returned to the pair, looking slightly disappointed but smiling still nonetheless.

Papyrus sat in front of them, on the other side of the table, "THEY DID NOT HAVE ANY PASTA RELATED FLAVORS… HOWEVER!" He said, smiling a bit wider, "I DID FINALLY SETTLE ON THIS ONE. IT'S RED, JUST LIKE MY SAUCE, SO IT MUST BE GREAT!" He said, showing off his red Nice Cream, likely flavored cherry or strawberry.

Papyrus took a bit out of it and brightened up immensely, "WOWIE! THIS IS GOOD! IT'S MORE FRUITY THAN I NORMALLY PREFER, BUT IT IS TASTY NONETHELESS!" He continued eating it as they sat there, enjoying a bit of time relaxing. Papyrus was unusually quiet as he enjoyed the Nice Cream, unwilling to stop eating it to talk.

"I'm so excited for the Dance tomorrow night!" Frisk said as she finished her treat, bouncing a bit in place.

Alex nodded, smiling brighter at her excitement, "Yeah, it'll be so much fun. I'm excited too!" They were both smiling as they both finished their snack, just as Papyrus finished his as well.

"Hey Papyrus, can we have another?" Frisk asked, trying to be innocent and cute to get him to agree.

Alex smirked, "I don't know, CAN you?!" He asked, holding back a bit of a laugh. Frisk lightly punched him in the shoulder as she pouted a bit.

She shook her head and scowled for a second, pretending to be angry before she smiled and laughed a bit, "MAY we have another?"

Papyrus shook his head, frowning a bit at having to say no, "SORRY FRISK, BUT MISS TORIEL WOULD BE VERY DISPLEASED IF YOU SPOILED YOUR DINNER!" Frisk frowned and sighed in defeat, lowering her head a bit.

Alex put an arm on her back and patted it lightly, "C'mon Frisk, it'll be ok." She turned and smiled at him, giggling and cheering up instantly.

Suddenly, their thoughts were interrupted by a scream to their left. They turned to see a small Roller Coaster going on nearby, still hearing the high-pitched, and eerily familiar, scream. All three residents at the table burst into laughter as they heard the scream. Alex tried looking a bit closer and saw a blur of white riding it, which meant that it might have been Asriel.

Frisk, still laughing, tried to speak, "Oh- oh my… was that Asriel?" She asked, still laughing.

Alex nodded, "Y-yeah, I think it was!" He barely got out as he continued to laugh.

Papyrus stopped after a moment, but still smiled widely, "C'MON, WE SHOULDN'T LAUGH TOO MUCH AT THEM!" He said, "HEY, WHY DON'T WE GO AND DO SOMETHING ELSE NOW?" He asked, looking around to see what they could do.

After a moment longer, Frisk's and Alex's laughter died down as well. Alex looked to Frisk, "What do you want to do?" He asked. Frisk sent back a gentle smile as she looked around, searching the carnival around her to see what she was interested in.

She pointed over to a group of booths, "How about those? Those look like fun!" She suggested.

Papyrus squinted his sockets and leaned forward as he squinted in the direction she pointed, "WHAT'S OVER THERE?" He asked in his normal, loud, outdoor voice.

Alex smiled, "Games, Papyrus. There should be some fun carnival games over there… and maybe some puzzles too!" Papyrus beamed, "THEN WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?! LET'S GO!" He led them quickly to the booths, nearly forcing them to run at full speed to keep up with him.

They arrived soon thereafter at the booths, Papyrus' beaming expression shined brightly as he looked around at all of the various games and puzzles he could partake in. After he calmed down enough to look at Alex and Frisk, who were still trying to catch their breath, he demanded to know what to do first.

"I'VE NEVER BEEN TO A CARNIVAL BEFORE. WHAT GAME SHOULD WE PLAY FIRST?"

After a moment of heavy breathing, Alex spoke up, "Why… why not try the ring toss…" Alex suggested, pointing to the closest booth to them. Papyrus stroked his chin slowly as he thought for a moment.

"HMMM, THIS 'RING TOSS' SOUNDS TOO EASY. ANYONE CAN TOSS A RING… UNLESS IT'S A HEAVY RING."

Frisk smiled and shook her head, "No Papy." She started, pointing to the various bottles at the booth, "You have to land a ring around one of the bottle heads. It's actually quite hard."

Now Papyrus was smiling even wider, "HARD YOU SAY? NOTHING IS HARD FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" He dashed over to the booth, startling the man behind the counter. "HOW MANY TICKETS TO PLAY, GOOD SIR?"

The man quickly composed himself before speaking, "Three tickets for five rings. You land two on a bottle, you get a small prize. If you land all five, you get a large prize." He motioned towards the small and large stuffed animals around him. Alex could clearly see that none of the large prizes had been claimed so far. Papyrus, however, ignored that little fact when he noticed a large, pink bunny stuffed animal that looked like 'Fluffy Bunny' from his bedtime story. He was Determined to win it!

Papyrus grinned excitedly and promptly handed over the three required tickets. The man smiled back, confident that he'd just earned some more free tickets. Once Papyrus was handed the five rings, he held them in his hand for a moment while looking over the bottles. It was as if he was looking at a complex puzzle and thinking of many different solutions to it.

Alex and Frisk grew excited for Papyrus, but were also preparing to console him when he lost. The man at the booth, however, grew impatient but didn't say anything. After another moment, Papyrus threw all five of them at once, each of them sailing through the air toward a different bottle. Then…

All five rings landed perfectly on a bottle, causing silence to occur and the man's jaw to drop. After a split second, Alex and Frisk ran over to Papyrus excitedly, bouncing up and down and cheering for him. An orange blush formed on his cheekbones from the praise. It quickly faded when he joined the children in their excitement.

After another moment, he pointed toward the large pink bunny, "EXCUSE ME SIR, MAY I HAVE THAT ONE PLEASE?" The man, finally recovering from the sudden loss on his part, gave in and handed the skeleton the stuffed bunny. The man was noticeably pissed, but didn't say anything about it. Once the bunny entered the skeleton's arms, he squeezed it tight with a large smile.

He looked down to Alex and Frisk, "I CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW THIS TO SANS, DAD, AND VERDANA! WHAT NOW?" He asked.

Frisk lightly nudged Alex and motioned towards the Ferris Wheel, maintaining a small, cute smile on her face. Alex nodded before pointing over towards it, "What about the Ferris wheel Papyrus? We could watch the sunset from the top of it!" Papyrus continued to smile, "YES! WHAT A FITTING END TO OUR FUN DAY!"

They all then approached the Ferris wheel, gave the person in charge some tickets, and climbed aboard. Papyrus decided he'd sit alone with his stuffed animal since it was so huge, while Alex and Frisk could sit behind him. Honestly, they were more than ok with this arrangement. As the wheel began to spin, they noticed that Verdana and Chara were sitting directly in front of Papyrus.

Frisk smiled a bit wider as the wheel rose, smirking as an idea popped in her head. She whispered loudly enough that Papyrus could hear her but not Chara and Verdana. Luckily, Papyrus didn't respond audibly and turned around to look at them. Frisk pointed at the couple in front of him and whispered, "Hey Papyrus, look at the cute couple in front of you."

Papyrus, without speaking, turned right back around and noticed Verdana and Chara sitting together. He couldn't help but speak in his loud voice as the two got closer to each other, "WOWIE, YOU TWO ARE SO CUTE!" He exclaimed innocently.

From where Alex and Frisk sat, they couldn't completely make out Chara and Verdana's expressions, but they knew that Papyrus' comment must have embarrassed and surprised the two a bit. They both began to snicker a bit as Chara must have tried to send them a glare, which failed to make it to them. They both felt kinda bad for Verdana, but Chara kinda deserved it.

After a moment, as they now approached the peak of the wheel, they stopped laughed for a moment and sat there. Frisk leaned over a bit and rested her head on Alex's shoulder as they sat quietly, looking out at the sunset. Frisk spoke quietly, "It's so beautiful isn't it?"

Alex smiled lightly and nodded, "Yeah… No matter how many times you see it, it never stops amazing me." Frisk slowly nodded while continuing to rest her head on his shoulder. As Alex held his hand tightly on the bar in front of them, Frisk slid her left hand atop his, surprising him a bit. However, he didn't fight it. Instead, he fought the blush that threatened to form on his face. As Frisk pulled her head back a bit to look Alex in his eyes, something interrupted their moment.

It was a bone bonking the two on the head. Frisk and Alex jerked a bit in surprise as he managed to catch the bone that hit him in his hand. He looked at the solid white bone, made of magic, in his hand before it dissolved, making him frown as he looked to find the perpetrator of this heinous crime.

It didn't look like it was Verd, because she was leaning into Chara again. Alex thought about possible ruining Chara and Verdana's moment once more, but instead, sighed and reached his arm around Frisk as they sat in silence for another moment.

* * *

Chara quietly laughed a bit at Verdana's trickery before it was quickly cut off by Verdana leaning in a bit toward her, causing a blush to once again form on her cheeks. She leaned in too towards Verdana as they, finally, kissed.

Both of them closed their eyes/ eye sockets as Chara's lips met Verdana's mouth. It wasn't a deep or insane kiss, rather it was a nice, small kiss the two of them enjoyed as their first. Neither having kissed another before, other than each of their adopted families.

After a moment, Chara pulled back a bit and smiled, looking into Verd's eye sockets for a moment as her own blush disappeared. Verdana was beaming back at her, her smile wide as she leaned in for another kiss. Chara couldn't help but do so again, this time lasting a bit longer. She couldn't help it, and after a moment, pulled away again with a huge smile on her face now. It wasn't like her creepy smile, it was a large, genuine smile towards Verdana.

Suddenly, a white flash cut off both of their smiles from in front of them. As the stars from the flash faded from Chara's vision, she clearly saw Asriel snickering in front of them as Sans held his phone towards the pair, his own grin much wider than normal. Chara couldn't help the blush that formed as a result. Verdana was a turtle again. Chara sat there quietly for a moment, wrapping an arm around Verdana as she silently began to think of a way to get revenge on them.

Alex and Frisk were laughing from their spot as they watched Sans take that photo. That… that was diabolical. As their own laughter died down, Alex reached over this time as put his hand atop Frisk's as she held the bar before them. She blushed a bit and looked up at Alex for a moment. He loved her deep brown eyes, especially as they shined from the sunset. She tried to speak, "I… Alex… I'm sorry…" She finally said.

Alex looked a bit confused, "What's wrong?" He looked down at his hand and slowly slid it off of Frisk's for a moment, which caused Frisk to panic at bit, "N-no, it's not th-that!" She began again, trying to reassure Alex. "I… I wanted to say I'm sorry I didn't… you know… tell you how I felt sooner…"

Alex smiled a bit, blush forming on his cheeks, "Frisk, I'm sorry about that too. I'm a c-coward."

Frisk shook her head a bit and grabbed his hand gently, "No, you're not. I just… I just feel like we were both kinda stupid." They both laughed a bit as she said that. Then, she continued as they stopped laughing, "You were the only one who was nice to me back then. The only one who actually cared about me."

Alex smiled and shrugged, "It's not that big of a deal. You're the most wonderful person I've ever met. The coolest, the nicest, everything."

She laughed a bit, "Don't let Papyrus hear you say that. He might make me fight to the death over who's the coolest." Alex laughed along with her for a moment as the wheel slowly began to make them descend.

"Frisk… I…" Frisk shushed him quietly, "I know." She leaned over slowly toward him as he did the same towards her. Then, they met in the middle, her lips upon his with their eyes closed as they, themselves, had their very first kiss. They sat there a moment before they both pulled back and looked at each other's eyes. Both of them had huge grins on their faces as they sat there in silence for a moment.

"I love you t-" Frisk said right before Alex leaned in and interrupted her with another kiss. This one lasting a bit longer than the previous one. She stopped talking and allowed it before he pulled away again. Frisk put her arm around Alex as she leaned her head back onto his shoulder.

They sat there like that as they returned to the ground slowly where everyone else was waiting for them. Chara seemed to be yelling at Sans about something, probably the picture, as they got off of the ride and approached the rest of their group. As the world around them all got darker, they all prepared to go back home and get a restful night's sleep in preparation for the Dance tomorrow night.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _There ya go. Plenty of ships and whatnot. In case you can't keep track it's Alex x Frisk and Chara x Verdana. Hope you all enjoyed the date chapter, and I'm sure you all figured out which chapter is next._**

 ** _Raz:BANANAPHONE. BECAUSE I CAN._**

 ** _And… there goes my note… haha, oh well. Send a PM to either of us or review if you have a question or comment._**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	20. May I have this Dance?

**Dey danced de end :D**

 **10/10 story by Raz**

 _Now onto our regularly scheduled program..._

* * *

Alex was in his and Asriel's room as they prepared for the dance. The sun outside was preparing to set as they both put their shoes on. Alex was now wearing a silverish/grey button down dress shirt with black dress pants with matching black shoes. Thanks to the internet and Toriel's help he was able to put on a nice red tie around his neck as he finished tying his shoes.

Asriel, on the other hand, was wearing a green polo shirt with black dress pants as well. Somehow, he was able to get a pair of black dress shoes to use as well, much to his annoyance. Asriel had no need for a tie, which was good since he refused to learn how to put one on.

"Gah, why do I have to wear these stupid shoes?" Asriel asked in an annoyed tone. Alex couldn't help but smile at his irritation, which made Asriel even more annoyed, "It's not funny Alex. Mom and Dad never made me wear this stuff during ceremonies and stuff." He crossed both his arms in front of his chest in a pout, refusing to work on his shoes any more.

Alex shook his head as he finished tying his own, "Yeah, but this isn't the Underground, first of all. Second of all, there won't just be monsters there. Third of all, don't you wanna look nice for the girls? For Chara?!" Alex said that last part with a little wiggle of his eyebrows, causing Asriel's face to begin blushing as his expression turned into one of horror.

"I… I don't feel that way about her! She's my sister, you freakin' idiot!" He then became extremely interested in his shoes and began to put them on rather than allow Alex to continue that train of thought. But, the damage was already done, and Alex was plotting something now… not that Asriel knew this.

After a few moments, they both exited their room and went downstairs to sit on the couch and wait for Alex and Chara to come down. As they sat there, they both received many compliments from both Asgore and Toriel about how fantastic and handsome the two of them looked. After a moment, they heard the creak of a door opening from upstairs as the two other Dreemurrs exited their room and began to come downstairs.

Alex's eyes locked onto Frisk immediately as she came down the stairs slowly. She wore a dark blue dress that went down below her knees, with matching blueish-purple heel-like pumps. The dress was sleeveless and extravagant in design. Her brown, shoulder length hair was not how it normally was, this time straightened. She looked stunning to Alex as he couldn't help but stare, which Frisk noticed as she giggled.

Chara, on the other hand, wore green dress that was the same length as Frisk, but had partial sleeves and was much simpler in design since she wasn't really interested in an extravagant dress. Not being one for heels, she wore matching flat green shoes. She looked beautiful as well, but Alex mostly paid attention to Frisk. Chara was blushing a bit since she wasn't really that interested in dressing up fancy all too often.

Toriel and Asgore were beaming at them. "My children, you all look so wonderful!" She said happily. She motioned them towards the couch next to Alex and Asriel as Asgore grabbed a camera. Alex got up and went to the right side of the couch as he allowed Frisk to take a seat rather than stand. She smiled and nodded at him as she took a seat. Asriel, on the other hand, remained seated, having no reason to get up, which cause Chara to squint her eyes and scowl at him.

Before he could react, Chara reached over and pulled him off of the couch and promptly took his seat beside Frisk. He pouted once more as he finally walked over to the left side of the couch, opposite of Alex. As Frisk and Alex stopped their laughter from the incident, Asgore got in front of them all with the camera aimed at them.

"Alright. Smile and say 'Cheese'." Then, the flash went off, capturing the four of them on film.

* * *

Gaster was busy at his own house, looking everywhere for his own camera as Verdana put the finishing touches on her outfit and put it on. Finally, he gave up searching in his room and returned down the stairs to the living room and kitchen. At the table sat Sans wearing a partially unbuttoned white dress shirt and a pair of nice-ish black shorts. He would have looked kinda nice had it not been for the way he wore this outfit. Luckily, he was wearing black dress shoes rather than his normal slippers, but they were also untied.

Gaster looked at him in confusion for a moment, " _ **Sans, what are you wearing?"**_

With both feet on the table and his usual lazy grin on his face, he looked over to Gaster before responding, " _heya g. i'm wearing my nice clothes."_

Gaster narrowed his sockets at his son, " _ **Really now? And, would you be so kind as to explain why?"**_

Papyrus popped his head out of the kitchen, "THOSE WERE THE NICEST CLOTHES I COULD GET HIM TO WEAR!" Then, he went back to doing whatever he was doing in there.

Sans shrugged, " _anyway, i heard something about volunteer hours at their school and how i could get some by going to the dance and being…"_ He took both hands out of his pockets to air quote the next part, "' _a chaperone', or whatever."_

Gaster kept his sockets narrowed, putting both hands on his hips for a moment, " _ **Really now, you're volunteering? Why do I find this hard to believe?"**_

Sans shrugged again, choosing not to answer. Papyrus popped back out again, "IT'S PROBABLY BECAUSE OF THE FREE FOOD AND THE FACT THAT BOTH GRILLBY AND MUFFET ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FOOD THERE."

Ah, there it was. Free food. Plus, with all of the darkness during the dance, he'd probably be able to easily sneak off and find a place to nap. But, most importantly, and the thing Sans would definitely not admit, was the fact that he'd be able to keep an eye on Verdana and Chara. Gaster shook his head for a moment, " _ **Anyway, have either of you boys seen my camera?"**_

Sans smiled a bit wider and pulled it out of his pocket, " _yeah, i found it earlier. here ya go."_ He tossed it through the air towards Gaster, who caught it. Just then, the sound of a door opening was heard as Verdana stepped out of her room and quickly descended the staircase into the living room. Everyone turned their attention towards her as she took a few steps forward towards them all. They were all speechless for a second.

She was wearing a dress that had the top half white, the lower a cascading rainbow. It went down to her shins, showing that she was wearing rainbow flats on her skeletal feet. She had a light blush of embarrassment on her face that only accented her figure, and she was shyly squirming at her family's gazes.

Gaster was the first one to snap out of their shared gaze, " _ **Wow. Verd… you look amazing."**_ Gaster complimented her, smiling warmly towards the young skeleton.

Sans' lazy smile returned as he added his own commentary, " _yeah sis, you look nice. matches your colorful personality too."_ Papyrus heard his dumb comment and came out of the kitchen in preparation to yell at San. That is, until he saw Verdana.

"WOWIE SIS. YOU LOOK NICE!" He said, beaming like always. The female skeleton blushed heavily over all the praise, squirming a bit more from her family's compliments. Sans jumped down from his chair and approached her.

" _alright, aren't we gonna take her picture before we go meet up with chara and them?"_ He asked as she wrapped an arm around his sister.

Gaster nodded as his eye sockets widened, " _ **Yes, yes. Over here Verd, come stand over by the wall for a quick picture!"**_ He said, motioning her towards the spot as he readied his camera. She nodded, walking over quickly, giving her daddy a shy smile. He nodded as he aimed the camera at her, " _ **Alright, smile and say cheese!"**_

The camera's flash went off as it captured Verdana's appearance. Gaster put the camera down on a nearby table and smile. Sans walked over to the camera to see the picture. His smile widened, " _hey, that's a pretty gouda picture."_ Papyrus narrowed his socket, "WHY MUST YOU RUIN SUCH A PRECIOUS MOMENT WITH OUR SISTER, SANS?"

Sans shrugged, " _i thought it was pretty grate. what do you think sis? are my jokes a bit too cheesy?"_ He asked, smile widening as he continued.

Papyrus was angry now, "YOUR INCIDENTAL PUNS ARE NOT FUNNY SANS!"

" _you mozzarella been in a bad mood if you don't think they're grate, right sis?"_ He said as his smile grew even wider now.

"Can w-we just g-go get everyone else, please?" Verdana asked, not really wanting to see her brothers fight right now. Sans shrugged and walked over to her.

Before they could do anything else, Gaster spoke, " _ **Sans, make sure you take plenty of pictures tonight."**_

" _k."_

" _ **And make sure nothing happens to Verd."**_

" _k."_

" _ **Sans…"**_

Sans continued to smile as he snickered a bit, " _don't worry about it dad, verd will be fine. i'll even keep an eye socket out for her."_ Papyrus decided it was best to finished his next batch of spaghetti rather than argue with Sans as he reentered the kitchen. Gaster rolled his eye sockets.

Sans turned to Verdana, " _you ready to go see your date, sis?"_ Timidly, his little skele-sister nodded, blushing a bit more. He smiled to her and gently took her hand in his own. " _alright then, follow me. i know a shortcut."_ He said, amusement coating his voice as he said that. They two of them walked in the opposite direction of the front door as all color and light faded from view for the two of them. Now, Gaster and Papyrus were alone in the house.

The entirety of reality returned to the pair of skeletons as they arrived right outside of the building the Dance was being held in. Sans maintained his smile as he looked around, stroking his chin slowly as he spoke, " _hmm, seems like we beat your date here. i'm sure they'll be here any moment."_

"I-i k-kinda wanna hide a-and surprise her…" Verdana said, looking for a suitable place.

" _how about a conveniently-shaped lamp? would that do?"_ Sans asked, smile wider than normal as he held back a bit of laughter while he remembered doing that oh-so-long ago with Frisk and his bro.

"Y-you're here, s-she'd see it coming," Verdana pointed out. "B-bring it, a-and I'll hide behind something _close_ to it." Sans' sockets widened for a moment, but his grin only grew. He snapped his fingers as the lamp materialized outta thin air before them in the grass besides the pathway. He heard a faint sound in the distance, " _i think that's them now. quick, behind… something other than the conveniently-shaped lamp!"_ He cried out in mock-panic.

Quickly, Verdana climbed a nearby tree, waiting in it. As soon as she was out of sight, the four Dreemurrs came into sight, rapidly approaching Sans' current location. The four of them quickly noticed the punny skeleton and his trademarked lamp beside him.

" _heya kiddos, looking spiffy tonight."_ He said, pointing his finger guns at them while smiling.

"Hey Sans!" Frisk said, skipping forward towards him happily. Chara looked at Sans in confusion.

"Why are you here Sans?" The former genocidal human asked.

Sans shrugged, " _i'm a volunteer. gonna help do stuff tonight."_ Now all four of them turned toward Sans, eyeing him suspiciously.

Chara deadpanned, "Really, you're volunteering… to do work… in the evening? Why do I not believe you?" Sans chuckled and shrugged again. Chara sighed, knowing that Sans wouldn't admit his reasons easily, "So, what are you doing out here then?"

Sans turned to the side, facing towards the lamp, " _staring at this lamp, it's pretty cool."_ Chara narrowed her eyes at the skeleton as she looked at the stupid lamp that he used to mess with Frisk and Papyrus before.

"Really now? Why do you keep this stupid thing around?" She grew kinda impatient at the comedian. Sans didn't respond for a moment, before he simply shrugged once more, making Chara a bit angrier. "Alright punny man, where's Verd then? I wanna find her and get far away from this stupid thing."

He continued to look at the lamp, stroking his chin lightly as if he were pondering something. " _i dunno. maybe this lamp will help?"_

Chara grew angrier and stomped the ground with a single foot, much like Papyrus does when he gets tired of Sans' shenanigans. "Sans, I already know she's behind the stupid lamp!" She exclaimed angrily towards the skeleton as she approached the lamp and looked on the other side of it. Her expression turned to confusion when she saw no one behind said lamp. "What the hell?"

At that moment, Verdana fell from above, using Chara to break her fall as they both hit the soft grass below them. No HP was lost.

Sans chuckled at the sight, " _gee, it looks like you two are falling for each other."_ Asriel, Alex, and Frisk chuckled a bit too, but decided it was best to go inside and left the three of them. Chara was not amused by the skeleton, but was not as angry as before now that she found Verdana, who was nuzzling her. After a moment like that, the two of them stood up.

Sans was still grinning at them for a moment before snapping his fingers and making the lamp vanish once more, " _see, told ya the lamp would help."_ He said in a teasing, light hearted tone. Verdana, deciding to mess with her brother a bit, went on her tiptoes and kissed Chara. Sans' eye sockets went pitch black and his grin faltered for the smallest of moments before he quickly recovered and resumed his facade. After a moment, they stopped their kiss to look at Sans.

He pointed over towards the building, " _alright lovebirds, time to go inside."_ He said as he locked his eye sockets on Chara, who quickly broke their eye contact to look at Verdana.

Blushing a bit, Verd took Chara's hand and led her inside. She was awfully assertive tonight.

Now with everyone inside, they could see the entire inside area for the Dance. Over on the far side, near the large speakers, floated Napstablook as the DJ. He was smiling while seeming fairly comfortable while up there, which meant he must be really enjoying himself. Off to one of the sides were tables filled with snack foods and pastries, with Muffet standing over there to make sure the table always looked beautiful.

Asriel went off quickly to grab some food for himself while Alex went to get a pair of drinks for himself and Frisk, who was sitting at a table, waiting for them. As Chara and Verdana walked inside they also saw Sans, sitting in a chair at another table, snoozing. That was fast. Beside him sat Mister Sower, as he was another teacher watching over the Dance. Chara shook her head at seeing Sans before she turned to Verdana.

"You want something to eat or drink, Verd?" She asked as she eyed the tables full of food, specifically the table filled with deserts and most importantly… chocolate.

"S-surprise me," Verd said softly, smiling trustingly at Chara. Chara nodded and slowly ran over to the tables, her red eyes shining and doubling in size upon seeing the amount of chocolate over there. Muffet approached her and smiled.

"Hello dearie, you need any help deciding?" She asked, holding back a giggle as Chara nodded, not knowing which to try first. "Well, Grillby and I worked together on a chocolate recipe, why not try a square. If they're good enough, maybe we'll start selling them." Chara nodded and grabbed two of the small squares of chocolate with a napkin before also pocketing several other small bars of the sugary substance.

She walked over to where the drinks were to find Alex trying to figure out which drink to grab. She smiled, "Greetings Alex. Can't decide?" Alex jumped a bit in place before realizing it was just Chara.

"O-oh hey Chara." He remained quiet for a moment before asking, "Do you know what Frisk would prefer? I mean, I've known her for a while, but you were in her head for like a year." Chara looked over the numerous options at the table before deciding.

"Well, I can tell you that she really loved Spider Cider. Why not take her a cup of that?" She answered honestly, making Alex grin and wrap an arm around Chara for a quick hug.

"Thanks sis." Chara chuckled a bit as Alex quickly grabbed two cups of the Spider Cider and walked over to Frisk. Chara, instead, grabbed two cups of cold Golden Flower tea. She hoped Verdana would like it, even though she prefers milk. With the two cups of tea and chocolate in her hands, she returned to Verdana, who had taken a seat nearby Frisk.

"Hey Verd, I got you a chocolate to try and a cup of iced tea." She said with a smile as she sat down beside her, placing the cup and napkin with candy in front of her date. Verdana looked at the two with a tilted head, biting into the chocolate and humming, liking the taste. "You like the chocolate? Muffet said she and Grillby made it together, so I figure it'd be good."

Chara took a bit out of her own chocolate before freezing in place for a moment. Her eyes grew huge and her red pupils were almost producing a light of their own. Chara's mouth became slightly ajar in awe of the taste, "This… is some of the best chocolate I've ever had… ever…"

Frisk leaned over a bit to Verdana, "Watch her Verd. If you're not careful, she'll spend the entire dance eating all of Muffet's chocolate." She snickered a bit as she said that, knowing that it wasn't a complete over exaggeration.

Verdana had a way around that. Since Chara still had her mouth open, Verd stole a kiss from her to snap her back to reality. Chara froze once more before returning the kiss, forgetting all about the chocolate. Frisk laughed a bit at this.

After a moment as the song switched to a slower one, Alex got up from his seat beside Frisk and extended a hand toward her, "Frisk, would you like to dance with me?" Frisk smiled warmly, taking his hand as the pair went from their seats to the dance floor up front.

Frisk put her hands over Alex's shoulders as he put his on her hips, both going back and forth slowly with the music. Frisk and Alex smiled warmly at one another as they were up there.

Chara, still sitting beside Verdana after the kiss, did a double take and saw her dress. She facepalmed, "I'm such an idiot, not noticing it sooner." She said to herself, getting Verdana's attention, "Verd. You… you look amazing!" She exclaimed happily.

Verdanas face erupted in her strange blush, shyly squirming. "Y-you look better," She said.

Suddenly, Asriel leaned in between the pair with an arm around each of them. He made a gagging sound, "Uhgg. I'm gonna be sick." Chara, without hesitation, slugged a fist into Asriel's side, knocking a bit of the wind out of him and causing him to stumble backwards. After taking a moment to recover, Asriel narrowed his eyes at Chara, but before he could say anything, she smirked and grabbed Verdana's skull lightly and pulled her into another kiss, giving Asriel a horrified expression on his face before he walked off.

Now that he was gone, Chara closed her eyes and resumed the kiss for a moment longer before a flash, which must have been mere inches from them, interrupted the two of them, causing the kiss to end prematurely. When Chara broke away and opened her eyes to look around, she saw noone and nothing around that could have done it. "What the heck was that?" She asked quietly.

"I d-dunno," Verdana said, looking for the source of the interruption. Looking around, they saw that Sans was now awake and talking with Mister Sower about something, but occasionally looked over towards the pair and smiled. In front of him on the table was a camera that looked eerily similar to the one Gaster used earlier with Verdana.

Quickly, Verdana grabbed it with her blue magic, pulling it over to them. Chara grabbed it out of the air and began looking at the pictures. There were over a dozen pictures of the two of them from this evening alone. The most recent one being the kiss they had just shared. Chara's face grew hot and red in both embarrassment and anger. Then, Sans popped up right in front of them.

" _heya. nice camera. Hehe, looks just like the one i was usin'."_ He said in a laidback tone.

"T-then why d-does it have m-my name on it?" Verdana asked, showing it, her having quickly used a little magic to apply the letters there while Sans was coming over. Sans leaned forward a bit and looked at it.

" _wow. it seems i'm not the only skeleton who enjoys taking pictures. mind if a fellow photographer took a look at your pictures?"_ He continued to play ignorant, smiling the entire time.

Verdana move to give him it, but 'dropped' the camera. Picking it up, she swapped it's memory for a spare she had, having done this kind thing with Sans before, so she was prepared. He looked at the photos on the camera with a bit of confusion for a moment before shrugging. " _hmm, you need to try a bit harder on some of those pics, they don't seem reel good. but don't worry sis, i think i could spare you the time to teach ya, if ya want."_ He set the camera back down on the table.

The skeleton girl took it. "O-okay, m-maybe sometime n-next week?" She asked. She actually DID take pictures, when she thought there was an opportunity.

He nodded, still smiling, " _great. the first lesson, if you plan on taking pictures tonight, is that it's all about the angle. like magic tricks and slight-of-hand, it's all about the angle the picture's taken from… and it's also important to have backups of your pictures too."_

Verdana simply nodded, before the sound of a camera breaking was heard. From Sans. He chuckled, " _it's ok sis, we'll get you a new camera next week."_ He pulled a camera out of his pocket and twirled it around in his hand as he walked away, sans one camera. Chara maintained narrowed eyes at Sans the entire time, until he finally made it back to his seat.

"The nerve of that guy." Chara said. Verdana leaned into her, hiding her face in the human's shoulder. The skeleton seemed a tiny bit upset now. "It's ok Verd." She said reassuringly as the slow dance ended and the other pair returned to sit next to them, both smiling.

Frisk tilted her head at Chara and Verd, "What happened? Are you two alright?"

Chara narrowed her eyes towards Sans before returning her attention to Frisk, " A certain comedian we all know decided to be a jerk again." Frisk and Alex nodded and frowned for a moment before sitting down beside the pair. Alex put an arm on Verd's back and rubbed it gently to try to calm her down.

After a few moments, another song began to play, this one a faster, familiar tune to Frisk and Chara. They looked to one another with huge grins, knowing this might cheer her up. Alex, who was kinda confused still, went along with it as the two girls dragged him and Verdana to the dance floor.

 **[Cue: Spider Dance Remix (GameChops maybe)]**

Verdana, startled, went with it. Over to the side, Muffet was clapping along and enjoying the song she had Napstablook help create for her so long ago. Frisk pulled Alex away from Chara and Verdana as they did their own thing. Alex and Frisk locked hands with one another and began to move around the dance floor their own way, with the more experienced Alex leading Frisk.

Now, without the other two, Chara looked into Verdana's sockets and smiled widely. "How do you wanna do this?" Chara asked her gently as the music played.

"I-i'll follow your lead," She said simply. Chara nodded, before looking over to Alex and Frisk. She knew she couldn't compete with Alex's dance skills, but wished to do her best regardless. This music… Verdana… she was filled with Determination!

She grabbed Verdana's hands and led her off towards the center, ignoring the many other kids that were looking at the two of them. Together, they spun at a decent pace clockwise for a moment before she lightly shoved Verdana away a bit and made her spin counterclockwise before pulling her back, smiling widely with Verdana.

After a moment, cheering was heard coming from the other students directed at Alex and Frisk. Chara, continuing to dance nonetheless, decided to pull Verdana over to the left a bit, to give the other couple center stage. "You having fun Verd? Feeling better?" Chara asked.

Verdana smiled, nodding. Together, the two danced, not noticing at one point, they had started to float a bit while doing so. While there were a few other couples dancing, most people took a step back to clap along with the music and give everyone else some space.

Alex and Frisk continued to spin and move in sync with the rhythm. Alex, while continuing to dance, felt his soul warming up, indefinitely turning red and filling with Determination more and more as time goes on. He didn't mind the feeling of it in the least as they continued to dance, many students now watching them, but he didn't care as he continued on.

Chara and Verdana continued as well, enjoying every moment they spent dancing together to the music. Chara couldn't help the huge grin that now adorned her face as they continued spinning, even as they seemingly floated.

 **[End of Music]**

Unfortunately, too quickly, the song ended in preparation for the next one to start. Alex and Frisk stopped dancing as they caught their breaths for a moment. Frisk smiled warmly towards him as they still stood there in the center of the dance floor with everyone cheering for them. Frisk spoke as she caught her breath, "That... was amazing." Alex nodded in agreement before he leaned in and kissed her for a moment, Frisk gave in and stopped talking for a moment before they broke off the kiss and began to walk back to their seats.

After a moment, Chara and Verdana were back on solid ground, smiling at one another, "That was fun…" Chara told her, still smiling at her partner. Verdana nodded, sweating a little somehow. She was the one floating the two. Chara, having seen Alex do the same, bent forward a bit and kiss Verdana as well, surprising her for just a moment before she composed herself and kissed back, this kiss lasting longer than the last few.

After breaking the kiss, Verdana looked very tired. Chara smiled and held her hand gently, "Let's go sit down for a bit, alright?" She asked, looking slightly concerned with Verdana, but still smiling. Verd nodded, not bothering to speak. As they returned to their seats Chara saw Alex talking with Sans over on the side about something. Chara was exhausted too from the dancing and thought little of it other than it probably being Alex telling him to stop being mean to Verdana.

They made it back to their chairs where Frisk was already waiting for Alex, drinking another cup of Spider Cider. When they sat down, they saw two cups of iced Golden Flower Tea waiting for them at their seats. Chara looked at the cups with a confused expression. Last she checked, they had finished their first cup and not grabbed another.

Verdana didn't seem to question it, drinking hers. Chara finally gave up and gave in, picking up the cup and drank it as well, refreshing her. Soon enough, Alex returned to them and took a seat, with Asriel following closely behind. As the two of them drew closer, Chara could clearly see Alex's red face, which was obviously caused by some sort of teasing from Asriel. Chara couldn't help but chuckle as Alex and Asriel took a seat.

The five of them sat there at the table for the next couple of songs. The four dancers having become exhausted from Spider Dance, while Asriel continued to tease Alex and Frisk, much to Chara's amusement. However, there was one thing that bothered Chara now that she wasn't so exhausted. 'Why were Frisk and Alex not trying to get him to stop?'

Normally, they'd bury their faces, or attack him like Chara does sometimes. Most of the time, they yell at him. But this time, they just sat there. It was odd, and only served to confuse Chara some more. Maybe they were trying to not cause a scene? Maybe they simply didn't find the teasing as bad, now that they were, indeed, a couple? Chara couldn't figure it out for the longest time. She was so caught up in theses thoughts that even Verdana was noticing it.

Verdana tilted her skull, shaking her a little to bring her back to awareness. Chara blinked and turned a bit before focusing on Verdana. "Oh, what's up Verd? Want another drink or snack?" Chara asked innocently, feeling a bit bad that Verdana might have thought she was ignoring her.

"Y-you were s-staring into space," Verd told her.

As they all continued to sit there, the music was suddenly cut, gaining everyone's attention. Up on stage now stood Mister Sower, holding a folded up piece of paper. He stepped up to the microphone and cleared his throat.

"Good evening everyone. As you all know, most Dances and Proms and such all have a 'king' and 'queen' that is voted for by the students. However, seeing as this Dance was scheduled almost last minute, the voting was done by Student Council members." Everyone was murmuring to each other, wondering who would be crowned the king and queen. Over to the side stood Sans with his second camera, likly recording all of this.

"So, without further ado, I will read the names of our 'King' and our 'Queen'. In case this is your first time with this sort of stuff, the King and Queen will take center stage on the dance floor and slow dance with each other while wearing-" The teacher raised a plastic crown and tiara, "- these crowns. Now, we will go ladies first…"

"Our Queen is…" Everyone was getting angry at the teacher for building the suspense. Eventually, he finally read, "Chara Dreemurr." Everyone turned toward her and clapped, making her face glow a bit red. She looked to Verdana for a moment before she got up and approached the stage up front.

When she reached it, Mr. Sower put the tiara on her head and smiled gently at her, which she appreciated. Then, he turned back to the audience, "Now, it is time to finally announce the King. You King is…" This time, he looked at the paper in confusion for a moment before shrugging, earning him a few chuckles from some students.

"Asriel Dreemurr."

Beside Verdana, Asriel froze in place, his normally white fur beginning to turn beet red on his face. When Verdana turned to see how Alex and Frisk felt, they were no longer in their seats, rather they were now up near the stage, watching Chara's face turn equally red. Hesitantly, Asriel got up from his chair and slowly approached the front and standing next to Chara.

The teacher walked over and placed the large, purple/gold crown on Asriel's head. Based on Mister Sower's expression, it was safe to say that he did not expect this turn of events either. He stood to the side again and motioned to the siblings, "Ladies and Gents, I give to you, your King and Queen."

Everyone began clapping as the lights dimmed a bit as the slow music began to play, signalling the start of the King and Queen's dance. Both of them beet red, and not wishing to do this, Chara hesitantly put her hands on Asriel's shoulders as he put his paws on her hips.

They moved back and forth slowly to the music for the first half of the song, and when the second half started, other couples joined in to dance as well. The entire time this happened, Alex and Frisk were up near the front of the crowd smirking at the pair, while Chara sent deathly looks and stares back. While this was all happening, Verdana heard a voice beside her.

" _sup sis."_ Sans said. When Verdana turned to see him, she saw he was holding both the camera and his phone in one hand. Each of them recording the entire dance and buildup, having a clear view of the entire seen from where they both were. He was grinning a bit wider than normal as this was happening.

"Hi…" Verdana mumbled, putting her skull down in her arms at the table.

" _hey, i wanna apologize for taking those pictures. i'm reel sorry."_ Sans said this while locking his eye sockets with Verdana's, looking away from his dual cameras while saying it. Verdana just shrugged a little. " _i, uh… kinda got carried away with taking them. g said to take pics, but i shoulda asked you first."_ He took stopped filming with the normal camera and went into its memory for a moment, scrolling through pictures for a moment before coming to one and showing it to Verdana.

The picture taken was one of Chara and Verdana dancing and floating in the air, both smiling widely and looking at each other. Frisk and Alex could be seen dancing in the background, but the focus was Verdana and Chara. " _i think this is a pretty nice photo… but i can delete them if you'd prefer that."_ He said in a sincere tone, his eternal grin it's normal size.

Verdana tilted her head a little, considering. "It's fine…" She finally said, she was more upset about being taken than people seeing them. Sans' grin faltered a bit as he exhaled, feeling pretty crummy about quite a bit of his previous actions. He nodded after a moment, then turned off his phone's camera and pocketed it.

" _i, uh… i know i've messed up quite a bit these past few days, and i know how hard it is to forgive…"_ Sans sighed, " _i'm just saying… i'm gonna do better, alright…"_ He finally said, one hand now on Verdana's shoulder. " _and, i'm sorry if i ruined your evening."_

Verdana just shrugged again. "T-the m-main thing b-bothering me is t-that I think they set that up," Verdana said, gesturing to Frisk and Alex, then to her date and her brother. Sans couldn't help the involuntary grin that grew on his face.

" _hehe, maybe some deals were made and shortcuts were taken to get that accomplished…"_ Sans finally answered her as he looked over to the dancing duo of royalty.

Verdana gave him a _look_ , before he hear a very familiar whirring noise from all around him. Sans shrugged a bit, " _c'mon sis, it was for a good cause. gimme a break."_

" _What cause is th_ _ **at**_ _?_ " Verdana said, a bit of darkness creeping into her tone. He… may be pushing a bit too far.

" _whoa, whoa, whoa, easy there verd. you've seen probably about 30 percent of the teasing your gf and her bro have been doing to them. they've kinda had it coming."_ He tried grinning a bit wider, " _it's just a prank sis, c'mon. remember the lamp? that was fun too."_

" _That w_ _ **as**_ _be_ _ **fo**_ _re_ _ **t**_ _he night s_ _ **tart**_ _ed. If they_ _ **wan**_ _ted rev_ _ **eng**_ _e, they_ _ **sho**_ _uld ha_ _ **ve**_ _gott_ _ **en**_ _it th_ _ **en**_ _._ " Verdana said, a bit of red creeping into one of her sockets.

Sans knew that if he didn't defuse this situation fast, this wouldn't end very well for him. He stroked his chin for a moment, thinking. " _Well… uh…"_ Then he got a little idea, " _well, if you think they took it too far, why not get revenge on them later too. they could come over next week for a sleepover and you could get them back… with Chara's help!"_ Sans was kinda drawing a blank here. He was much better at making people angry, not making them happier.

Verdana considered this for a moment, before the red slowly drained from her socket. Crisis averted. "Alright…" She said, before wincing, a bit lightheaded from the HATE. Sans led her to her nearby seat.

" _sit down sis. when your gf is done dancing with her bro, you can go up there and dance with her instead. i'm sure it'll make both of you feel better."_ The comedian said to his little sister, who nodded. She hadn't even noticed when she got up, but must have at some point. Dismissing all but her original blaster, that one going back into a little chain around her neck after it shrunk, she sat and put her head down again… falling asleep.

Sans patted her back lightly before turning around and seeing the shocked reactions of nearly all of the students. Mister Sower was the first to speak, "Alright everyone, nothing to stare at. Back to dancing or you can go home." Everyone got the memo and began to go back to what they were doing prior to the 'incident'.

Sans let out a sigh of relief as the Dreemurrs and Mister Sower all came over to him and Verdana. Chara, having since recovered from the embarrassment earlier, eyed Sans suspiciously, "Alright comedian, what'd you do?"

Mister Sower nodded, "Yes, what happened with her? It seems she began using some sort of powerful, hateful magic out of nowhere."

Sans sighed once more, " _verd lost it for a moment and got kinda angry with me…"_ He paused for a moment before nodding toward Frisk and Alex, " _and you two…"_ Frisk and Alex looked away in shame, now kinda regretting their prank. Chara and Asriel, however, were trying to connect the dots.

"What'd you three do?" Asriel asked innocently, his fur still a light pink as he recovered from the dance earlier. Then, Chara gasped and began to fume.

"You… you idiots set us up!" Chara exclaimed in an understandably angry tone. Alex and Frisk looked away while Sans lazily shrugged, giving Chara her answer.

Asriel actually began to get a bit angry now, "What? What the heck guys? What'd we do?"

Mister Sower chuckled, "Ahh, I see…" This got the bickering children's attention. He pointed to Chara and Asriel first, "You two were always teasing and messing with Frisk and Alex…" Then he pointed to them, "So they decided to prank you by setting you two up and teasing you back…" Then he pointed at Sans, "And they used Sans to help pull the whole thing off."

Upon saying this, the five of them hung their heads in shame for a moment, realizing their defeat. Mister Sower chuckled a bit more, "So, I got it correct, then?" Their silence was all he needed as an answer. The teacher than reached down and slowly pat Verdana's sleeping form on the back, "And poor Verdana got all caught up in your shenanigans."

After a moment, the teacher straightened up, "Might I suggest something? Why don't you all call a truce on your pranks, and get back to enjoying your dance? You still have plenty of time to do so." Sans nodded and got up from his seat beside Verdana.

" _welp, i'm gonna go check on the food, make sure it's still edible."_ He then proceeded to walked towards the bathroom before vanishing from sight and reappearing beside the many tables filled with food. Everyone else shook their heads.

Satisfied that he'd solved the issue, Mr. Sower walked away and back to his table to sit back down with his drink. Then, Asriel ran off to ask some other girl to dance, leaving the three humans to sit down beside Verdana while she slept for a bit.

Chara stared at the Frisk and Alex for a moment, "You two are gonna apologize to her, right?"

Alex sighed, "Look Chara, it was mostly my fault. I suggested the idea to Frisk. I talked to Sans and got him to do it. It wasn't Frisk's fault, and…" Alex got up and wrapped Chara in a hug, surprising her, "I'm sorry about the prank. I didn't know it'd be so bad. I wanted to mess with you, but not to the extent that it happened."

Chara sighed and gave in, wrapping a single arm around Alex while keeping her second one on Verdana's shoulder. "It's ok, I guess." She pushed Alex back a bit, ending the hug and looking into his eyes, "I admit, Asriel and I DID mess with you two quite a bit, so we kinda deserved it. Just… let's stop before it gets any worse. For all of our sakes." She motioned towards Verdana as she said the last part. Alex nodded in agreement, while Frisk did the same from behind him, still in shock that Alex took all the credit for her.

They all sat down for a little bit, watching other kids dance, until Verdana finally began to stir as the night began to get closer and closer to the end. Verdana yawned a little, sitting up and looking confused. "How long did I nap?" She mumbled.

Chara rubbed her back slowly and lightly before pulling her closer in a hug, "You've been asleep for about thirty to forty minutes." Chara answered softly.

"I… d-did not mean t-to sleep that long," She said, blushing a bit.

Chara still held her tightly, "Shhh, it's alright Verd. It's perfectly ok." She said reassuringly before she motioned over to Alex and Frisk sitting on the other side of Verdana. The skeleton turned to the two, just noticing them, and _glaring_.

"Hey Verdana…" Alex began, trying his best to ignore the glare she sent towards himself and Frisk. "I, uh, wanted you to know that I was the one who got Sans to do it, and I was the one who came up with that idea, so you should be angry at me, not them." He paused for a moment before continuing, making the glare ten times worse for him. "I regret messing with Chara in front of everyone. I… I didn't think it'd be that bad. I want to apologize to you too, for making you have to experience it too…"

He looked down in shame for a moment before looking back at her, "So, if you want to hate anyone… just hate me. I know I deserve it." He finished, looking down in his lap in shame as Frisk reached a hand out and placed in on his shoulder to try to comfort him.

Verdana stared at him for a bit, before sighing, glare dissipating. "J-just don't d-do it again," she said, leaning on Chara more. Chara smiled a bit and held her closely.

Frisk decided to speak now, "We came to an agreement to have a truce. We're done teasing and messing with each other like that." Verdana didn't move that she heard her, and instead, dragged Chara to the dance floor to dance more. Chara, without hesitation, didn't resist and followed her partner to the center of the dance floor as the previous song came to an end and the next one prepared to start.

This next one was a slow dance, which Chara didn't mind too much. At least on these songs, no one knew that she wasn't that good of a dancer, it was almost TOO simple to be bad at. She grinned a bit at Verdana as they arrived. "You want to lead me this time, Verd?"

Verdana nodded, and led Chara. Verdana her arms around Chara's back as Chara did the same around Verdana's neck. Moving side-to-side slowly, Verdana led Chara slowly counterclockwise towards the very center of the dancefloor, between all of the other couples. As the slow music played, the two of them looked into each other's eyes/ sockets and smiled gently at one another. Verdana took a step back as Chara copied in sync, taking a step forward with her partner, smiling the entire time.

It was easy and simple enough to do without focusing completely on the movements. The two lost themselves to the nice rythm of the song as they spoke to each other. "You having a nice night, Verd?" Chara asked her she took a step back, with Verdana taking a step forward in sync.

"Now I am," She whispered, spinning the taller girl a little. Chara smiled a bit wider as they continued, ignoring anyone who might have been watching the two of them.

"Me too." She smiled, before her smile turned into a joking grin for a moment, "But we should go to a chocolate factory for our next date." She said as she chuckled a bit.

"I hear Willy Wonka's is open," Verdana giggled back. Chara pulled Verdana closer to her, despite Verd leading the two of them, jolting Verdana a bit with surprise.

"Since when were you the one in control?" She said in a slightly seductive tone before she leaned in a bit further and kissed Verdana. Verdana kissed back eagerly, before surprising Chara by breaking the kiss, twirling her, and dipping her, holding her with one arm and resuming the kiss. Chara couldn't help the giggle that threatened to leave her lips as she kissed back, a bit deeper this time, enjoying every moment of it.

After a few more moments, Verdana brought Chara back up to her feet as they both ended the kiss as the song, itself, was ending too. Chara smiled and took a few deep breaths as she tried to recover from that. Finally, she wrapped both arms around Verdana tightly and put her head on her shoulder, "I love you Verd!"

Suddenly, as Alex and Frisk sat there, they heard Napstablook speak between songs, "oh… hey guys… so, um, this is gonna be the final slow song of the night… sorry… don't hate me… oh..." Alex looked over to Frisk and knew what he had to do.

Alex reached over and grabbed Frisk's hand, leading her to the dance floor. They got in the center as Frisk put her arms around Alex neck while he put his on her hips. The music played as they moved back and forth in sync with the slow song, looking into each other's eyes and smiling gently.

"Hey Frisk, I'm sorry if I ruined the night…"

Frisk shook her head and smiled reassuringly, "You didn't ruin anything Alex."

Alex sighed, "But I made Verdana upset. You saw that Hate stuff again. That's my fault."

Frisk shook her head, "No, we made her upset. You didn't have to take all the blame like that." Frisk smirked a bit, "I'm a big girl, ya know!" This got Alex to chuckle a bit.

"Yeah, I know. But… I couldn't stand it to see Verdana hate you. It's better if she hates me instead." He frowned and darkly chuckled, "Even my own parents hated me, so it's not that big a deal to add someone to the list."

Frisk moved her arms and grabbed both sides of Alex's face, "Alex."

"Y-yes?" Before anything more could be said, she pulled Alex's face to hers and kissed him. He was surprised for only a moment before he gave in and kissed back, the kiss lasting a few seconds before Frisk broke it off.

"No one hates you, ok." She tapped the side or Alex's head above the ear, "And the sooner you get it through that thick skull of yours, the better."

Alex smiled gently at Frisk, "Thanks. Frisk?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you." He leaned in and kissed her once more for just a moment before he wrapped her in a hug as well. Alex looked over and saw Chara and Verdana watching them from a few feet away as they, too were dancing. However, he didn't care about that at the moment. He didn't care if they heard any of what he said. All he cared about, in this moment, was being with Frisk.

And, with that final song drawing to a close, the Dance, itself, drew to a close as well.

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I've been looking forward to writing this for a while, plus I've wanted an excuse to use Spider Dance since it's one of my favorite themes. Anyway, hope you're all ok with the Verdana x Chara and Alex x Frisk ships, 'cause they're here to stay. If you all liked this nice, less death-defying chapter, let someone know! Stay safe. Stay Pure! Stay Determined!**_

 _ **Raz: DETERMINATION!**_

 _ **Extra Notes: So, if you're an American, today is the great American Solar Eclipse. Be safe out there and try not to go blind. After all, if you're blind, you won't be able to enjoy the rest of my story. Also, today is my first day back at college, so my free time will be greatly diminished. However, I will do my best to keep up with 2-3 updates each week. Unfortunatly, there will only be one more update this week, so I apologize in advance for that, but I'm sure you'll look forward to next week even more as a result!**_

 _ **-swrWriter**_


	21. You're gonna have a bed time

The Dance last Saturday was unforgettable for everyone. The two couples enjoyed dancing with each other, Frisk and Alex came to both enjoy and regret their prank, and it was overall a great time despite a few hiccups. These last few days were fairly mundane in comparison. Alex and Frisk were more comfortable with each other at lunch and in class now that they were officially a couple, while the same could be said about Chara and Verdana. As much as Chara and Asriel were pissed at Frisk and Alex, they decided that they'd adhere to the truce about teasing… for now…

The week blew by, especially when they were informed early on that there would be a large sleepover at the skeleton's house Friday evening, making each of the children extremely excited. Finally, school let out at the end of the week and they all quickly arrived at the skeleton's house after the Dreemurrs went home to finish homework.

Out front, Asgore was dropping them all off, a small backpack over each of their shoulders. "Alright kids, I hope you have a good time."

Asriel smiled, "We will dad!"

Asgore chuckled, "Alright, I'll see you all tomorrow. Try not to eat too much junkfood."

"Yeah, yeah." Chara absentmindedly agreed as Asgore nodded, saying farewell before driving off, back towards home. Now that their dad was gone, the four Dreemurrs ran up to the front door and rung the doorbell. For some odd reason, there was no reply. Alex smirked and took a step forward, knocking twice on the large door. Obviously, this was the correct course of action, because as soon as he did… a bucket of pink paint fell on him.

The splash damage managed to land a few drops on the other three, but Alex received the worst of it. He felt his cheeks begin to turned red in embarrassment as the pink paint soaked his favorite sweater. Somehow, he remained composed enough to not lose it in either anger or sadness, neither screaming nor crying in response. Instead, he kinda froze in place as his cheeks began to burn. Chara couldn't help the smirk that formed on her lips, but managed to suppress her laughter.

Verdana opened the door then, looking genuinely surprised at the male's pinkness. "Are y-you okay?" She asked.

Unable to speak due to his shock, Alex simply nodded before bowing his head and hiding his eyes from view. Frisk, feeling awful for Alex, wrapped an arm around him despite the paint now getting on her as well.

"C-cmere, I'll take you to the shower," Verdana said. She grabbed a convenient dry spot, and the two were teleported into the bathroom. Alex, now in the bathroom, quickly grew even redder as he asked Verdana to get out of the bathroom while he attempts to remove the paint in the shower. After she left and he undressed, her made a horrific discovery. The paint had gotten inside of his backpack, ruining his pajamas and his set of clothes for tomorrow. In fact, it was a miracle that his extra pair of underwear in there were somehow intact.

He sighed and washed himself off before putting on the new pair of underpants and simply sitting in there for a bit, head hung in defeat. All alone, he allowed himself to silently cry a little bit before composing himself right as he heard a knock on the bathroom door. "A-alex? I asked my b-brothers, b-but they don't h-have anything for you to wear," She said.

He looked towards the door, "N-n-nothing?" He hung his head again and sighed, "My e-extra clothes I br-brought are ruined too… m-maybe I should call dad…" He remained silent for a moment before speaking again, "I-is there re-really nothing? Nothing a-at all?"

"W-well… you c-could borrow s-some of mine…" Verdana offered to him.

Alex sighed in defeat, "s-sure… th-that'd be n-nice." He heard the sound of pattering feet as Verdana left to get him clothes. When she came back, she held out two things. One was a pink skirt, and another an almost-white pink shirt that had thrills where the sleeves would go if it had any.

Alex's eyes bulged for a moment upon seeing the outfit, "I-Is there a-anything else y-you have?" He asked, almost begging.

"E-everything e-else is washing," Verdana told him, sounding apologetic. Alex sighed and grabbed the clothes, and proceeded to put them, frowning the entire time yet trying to look at least a little grateful despite the fact that, with the skirt, any wrong move would expose his underwear. He was almost willing to try to put back on his paint-soaked clothes, but didn't.

Now, 'fully dressed', Alex peeked outside of the bathroom, wishing to almost hide in there the entire time, rather than have anyone see him… especially Frisk. There was no one else in the hallway beside Verdana and part of Alex. Everyone else was likely either still at work or downstairs, waiting for him.

"H-hey Verd…" Alex timidly spoke. She waved a little, smiling encouragingly at him.

"I-i won't laugh," She promised.

"W-who do you th-think did th-that? W-w-with the p-paint?" He asked. The skeletal girl simply shrugged.

She thought for a moment. "P-probably Sans," Verdana told him. Alex slowly nodded while frowning, before he finally began to slowly exit the bathroom. He was now in plain view in the hallway, but still close enough to the bathroom door to dash back inside if the need arises.

Verdana offered a skeletal hand to him, to help him come out. Alex slowly took it and followed her down the hall and then down the stairs into the living room where everyone else was. Every step closer to the living room only made Alex more nervous, until it peaked upon reaching the stairs.

Feeling his nervousness, she rubbed her thumb on the back of his hand to try and comfort him. Finally, he walked down the stairs to see the other three sitting on the couch, obviously waiting for him. Neither Sans, nor Papyrus were in sight. The three others froze in place in both shock and awe upon seeing Alex.

Chara couldn't help but begin laughing as she grabbed a pillow and pushed it onto her face to try to stop her own laughter, which failed. Asriel covered his now red face with both paws. Frisk sat there with concern on her face, seeing him becoming redder and redder by the nanosecond.

"A-Alex… are you alright?" Frisk asked. She stood up and walked over to him as he stood in place, his eyes now turning equally red and glossy. When she got close, Alex wrapped both arms around her and hugged Frisk tightly, doing his best to bury his face into her shoulder. As they stood like that for a moment, Chara eventually calmed down enough to stop laughing at her brother's 'misfortune'.

Verdana, who had gone into the kitchen to get a drink, came back in holding a tray with various drinks, everyone's favorites. After a moment, Alex calmed down a bit and went to sit down on the floor beside the couch, where Frisk then went to join him. As Verdana came forwards, she tripped, spilling the drinks. Most of it went on the floor, but when the two on the couch jerked, it caused Alex's borrowed skirt to raise, the underwear beneath getting soaked.

Alex bowed his head now, his longish hair blocking his eyes from view, his body and shoulders now trembling. Frisk looked over at Alex, her eye filled with shock and concern once more. "A-are you okay?!" Verdana said, quickly saving what she could, aka none of the glasses shattered on the ground.

"I… U-u-um…" He stuttered. "I th-th-think I n-n-need to u-u-use th-the bathr-room." As soon as he finished stuttering, he took off back up the stairs and went back into the bathroom, locking the door behind himself once more. He found his now-pink backpack still where he left it and began rummaging around it, looking desperately for anything he could use.

Nothing. He shoulders sank in defeat as he proceeded to curl up into a ball in the middle of the bathroom. He heard knocking then. "A-alex? I m-managed to find some c-clean underwear for you!" Verdana called. After a moment of silent debate with himself over his options, he finally forced himself up to the door. Slowly, he unlocked it and peered outside at Verdana. She was holding boxer briefs, and although they were a bit… cutesy, having kiddy cartoons on them, it wasn't downright girly clothes. Verdana was also blushing horribly, holding them out to him mutely. He smiled weakly as he reached out and grabbed them before going back inside and locking the door to change for the second time.

After a few more moments, he finished and was physically ready to go back out to the living room. Emotionally, however, he really found the spot where he previously curled into a ball appealing. He settled for neither and decided to spend another moment against the wall in the bathroom, trying to figure out what to do next.

"W-we'll be downstairs, w-when you're ready," Verdana told him, before she padded off.

Alex remained silent, sitting in the bathroom for a few more minutes before another knock was heard at the bathroom door. When the person on the other side received no answer, she spoke, "A-Alex. Are you alright?" Frisk asked, worry coating her tone.

Finally, Alex spoke, "N-not really…" Alex then heard the sound of Frisk leaning against the door and sliding down it, resting and sitting on the other side.

"Why don't you come out and try again? If something else happens we could always call mom or dad or something." Frisk received no response from Alex, "Please Alex. Please come out here. For me?" Frisk, once again, received silence as her answer. She sighed and stood back up, preparing to head back downstairs when she heard the door unlock. She turned around right as Alex stepped into the hallway, tear marks partially visible on his face.

She walked back over to him and held his hand as they stood in the hallway for a moment. She looked at him for a moment as he turned a bit red, "Hehe, I look pretty bad, don't I?" He asked. She reached over to a tissue box in the bathroom and pulled a tissue out to clean away the tear marks on his face.

"Nah, I think you look perfect." That remark made Alex chuckle a bit.

"You're such a flirt, Frisk." He smiled now and held her hand a bit more firmly as the pair now walked back downstairs to see that Sans was now home, napping on the couch, which forced the others to get off of it. They all saw the two come back down, except for Sans for obvious reasons, and Verdana, who wasn't in the living room.

"H-hey Alex. You ok?" Asriel asked quietly, worrying a bit about his brother, who seemed to have the entire universe out to get him. Alex weakly smiled and nodded before looking at Sans for a split second, then looking away from him with a frown. He was hoping Verdana's suspicions were wrong, but he was now suspicious of Sans.

"Wh-where's Verd?" Alex asked, not seeing her in the living room. "And when did Sans get here?"

Chara shrugged before frowning at Sans. "One moment we were sitting on the couch. The next, we got up to see if Verd needed some help. The millisecond we got up, he appeared on the couch." She narrowed her eyes at the skeleton, "Stupid comedian won't share the couch."

Asriel pointed towards the kitchen, "A-and I think Verd's in the kitchen, making something."

Alex nodded for a moment, then went to take a seat on the edge of the couch. He then pushed Sans a bit, trying to both wake him up and move him from his current position.

"Wake up sleepy head." Alex called, pushing him less gently now and forcing Sans' sockets open.

 _"_ _oh hey, sup kiddos."_ He said in an innocent tone, lazily smiling at them. Frisk began rubbing her chin a bit, lost in thought. Alex, instead, narrowed his eyes at the lazy monster.

"Mind moving over?" Alex asked, not very amused. This confused Sans a bit, seeing Alex behave like this. That is… until he noticed the clothes he was wearing, which only caused him to become even more confused.

 _"_ _hey buddy, why ya wearing my sis' clothing?"_ Sans looked up and down to see that Alex was, indeed, not pleased to be wearing such things.

Alex narrowed his eyes toward him, "Someone thought it'd be funny to drench me and my stuff with paint." He motioned towards his current outfit, "And now I'm stuck with these clothes as my only alternative to being naked." Sans didn't speak for a moment, his sockets relaxing a bit with sympathy.

 _"_ _i'm sorry about that kiddo, but i have no idea who did it."_ He finally answered, sounding sincere. Sans moved and sat up on the couch, allowing Alex to sit comfortably next to him. When Alex looked to Frisk, she was gone. He sighed and turned to the now-switched-on television, watching whatever was on, rather than doing anything else for the time being.

* * *

Detective was on the case as she went into detective mode. She's seen all sorts of spy and detective films and tv shows, so she knew most of the basics by heart. Currently, she had four suspects, each of them a skeleton. Both Sans and Verdana denied any knowledge of the fact, and seemed sincere. While when it comes to Papyrus and Gaster, neither seemed like the type to pull any sort of prank. Unfortunately, without any evidence, they were still all suspects.

She slipped away from Alex's and Sans' conversation and returned back outside as orange colored the sky, clouds were rolling in from the distance. Outside on the front porch now laid a mostly dried pool of pink paint, with a bucket lying in the center of it. This was where she'd start her investigation. She smirked, laughing internally to herself as she did this.

She took a few steps forward, off of the front porch before looking back to front door area, noticing her first clue. There was no way for the paint bucket to have fallen by itself. There was no way it could have stayed where it was while the door was closed. This meant one of two things. The paint bucket was either held there with blue magic before being released at the knock, or the paint bucket was teleported above Alex during the knock.

Honestly, Frisk was leaning toward option number two, since she didn't recall seeing a paint bucket up there. However, she could not discount the first theory since she had neither video evidence nor did she pay close attention during the 'incident'.

Coming to this realization only proved that it must have been one of the skeletons, since no other monster she knew of could teleport things or manipulate gravity. Thus, her suspect list remained at four. She continued to look around the front of the house, looking for any other clue that could help her narrow down the suspect list.

Then, she realized another thing she had neglected. Papyrus did not have teleportation abilities, and his blue magic was limited to his immediate area. Therefore, he could not have done it since he was still at Grillby's working a late shift. Papyrus has an alibi, shrinking the list to three. Satisfied with her analysis of the crime scene, Frisk returned inside to continue her investigation.

Once inside, she saw that Sans and the others were watching some sort of TV show about people failing at stunts. Verdana was in the kitchen doing something with the oven. Frisk walking into the kitchen to talk to her first witness.

"Hey Verdana." Frisk said with a friendly smile as she walked into the kitchen, stopping just a foot or two away.

"H-hi Frisk," Verdana said, sitting in front of the oven and looking inside.

"Whatcha doing in here?" She asked before pointing back out to the others, "Why aren't you out there watching TV with them?"

"I-i f-felt bad f-for spilling t-the drinks on Alex, s-so I'm making apology c-cookies. I made s-sure to make enough for everyone," Verdana explained. "N-now I'm w-watching them, s-so I can take them o-out when their _just_ right."

Frisk smiled warmly at this, but had to mentally remind herself that she was still a suspect. She nodded for a moment before speaking, "So, what were you doing before we got here? There was about two hours between the end of school and our arrival over here."

"I-i was just in my r-room, drawing," Verdana told her. Frisk silently wondered if she was drawing with crayons... or paint...

"Was anyone else home with you? I didn't see Gaster here, Sans just arrived, and Papyrus should have been working." Frisk asked.

"I-i think S-sans might have been h-here briefly, but I don't know. I-i was kinda zoning out." Verdana said with an embarrassed blush. Frisk nodded. It seemed like she could have an alibi, but maybe not. Now, she'd have to go interview Sans.

"Alright, thanks Verdana. Good luck with the cookies." Frisk told her, smiling. Verdana waved with her tail a little, focusing on the cookies.

Frisk approached the couch and smiled at everyone. Before she could get to Sans, Alex spoke to her, "Hey Frisk, where've you been?" Frisk smiled and scratched the back of her neck, "Oh, just looking around. This house is so similar to the one in Snowdin, I still can't get over it."

Sans chuckled from beside Alex, _"heh, yeah. paps loved that old house. in fact, he tried convincing g and i to use our shortcuts to bring the house up here. but, g shot it down."_

Frisk nodded and smiled towards Sans for a moment before responding, "Hey Sans, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Sans nodded, _"k. you wanna talk here, or somewhere private?"_ Frisk pointed upstairs, sending Sans the message, prompting him to shrug before disappearing from his spot on the couch. Frisk then ascended the stairs and entered Sans' room at the end of the hall. She went inside before closing the door behind her.

 _"_ _so, whatcha wanna talk about?"_ Sans asked, his tone growing a bit more serious. Frisk almost shuddered, but remained composed.

"It's about Alex… and the paint." Sans visibly relaxed and let out the breath he was holding. He nodded before plopping down on his bed next to him.

 _"_ _ok. so, what, you gonna interview me? i believe i'm allowed a lawyer."_ Frisk smirked a bit and chuckled before she straightened her posture.

"Detective Frisk is on the case. And, you shouldn't need a lawyer if you're innocent."

Sans pretended to be insulted, _"detective, you don't think i was responsible for the paint prank, do ya?"_

Frisk smirked a bit before replying, "Everyone is innocent until proven guilty."

Sans chuckled, _"so, is this the part where i give you my rock solid alibi?"_ He asked, playing along with the whole thing.

Frisk nodded, "Where were you at 5:30 this afternoon?" She asked, looking down at her watch, as if she recorded the exact time of the incident.

Sans rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, _"well, g and i were looking further into abnormal soul traits today, and we've gotten pretty close to a breakthrough. g's still over there, but i was busy calibrating some equipment during the time. in fact, you could go over there and get the video evidence proving i was there, not leaving for a moment."_

Frisk frowned. His alibi, and Gaster's, seemed pretty rock solid. _"am i free to go now, detective?"_

Frisk sighed and nodded. She wasn't really getting anywhere with the investigation now. Sans, Papyrus, and Gaster all have an alibi, and Verdana seemed really sorry for spilling the water on Alex. Suddenly, something clicked in her head, "Wait!" She called at Sans before he left, causing him to freeze and look at her. "One more question, then we're done."

Sans nodded and shrugged, waiting for Frisk. She smirked, "Hey Sans, mind if I borrow a pair of clothes. It's for, uhh, a project about the similarities between humans and monsters." Sans looked confused for a moment before nodding, choosing not to call her out on her weak lie. He walked over to his dresser and opened a drawer. Then another. Then another. Each one offered a more confused expression on Sans' face.

 _"_ _hmm, seems i'm all out."_ He grinned a bit, _"unless you'd like the pair i have on now."_ Frisk's face grew red with both embarrassment and defeat and she shook her head and left his room quickly.

By the time she reached the hallway and the stairs, she found Sans sitting beside Alex once more on the couch. She frowned to herself as she went down the staircase. She now had one suspect left without an alibi, but without any sort of evidence to back it up, she couldn't name her as the culprit. Plus, she'd hate to make Verdana sad with the accusation if she were incorrect. Right as she came downstairs and sat on the couch, she could smell the wonderful aroma of chocolate chip cookies.

Verdana was walking in, smiling, holding a tray chock full of the cookies. Chara was the first to make a move. Before anyone else even realized Verdana had cookies, Chara was already up there, grabbing at the first one. Verdana stopped her, before picking one that had extra chocolate chips in her blue magic, levitating it to Charas hand. "I-i m-made that one for you." Verdana said with a smile. Chara stared at it with awe for a moment before wrapping Verdana in a huge hug and ending it with a quick kiss.

"You're the best." Chara said after the kiss, before taking a bit out of the cookie. Her eyes glistened with shock and awe at the taste of the cookie.

Verdana smiled, before walking over to Alex. "I-i'm sorry f-for spilling the d-drinks on you, cookie?" She said, holding the tray out. Alex smiled gently and thankfully at Verdana before nodding and grabbing a cookie. He wasn't as obsessed with chocolate as Chara, but he still loved it.

"This is good Verdana. Thanks." Alex told her. She smiled, and set the tray on the table for people to take as they wanted, grabbing one for herself and eating it.

Sans chuckled, _"careful sis, that stuff will go right through ya."_ Asriel rolled his eyes as he went over to get himself a cookie too. Frisk, too, got up and grabbed a cookie before eating it as well, humming happily at the taste. It was pretty good.

Frisk knew that, soon enough, they'd all probably start playing some games or something, so she was running out of time to investigate. She only had one more idea. One more possible lead. She excused herself to go back outside for one more look around.

Outside, the sky now dark and peppered with stars, still laid the paint bucket. There was just enough light from the street lamps and moon to allow her to see. She went over to the bucket, careful not to ruin her shoes in the paint, and picked it up to examine the toll of destruction, itself. There must be some sort of label on the bucket, revealing where the paint was bought. If she could find out where it was bought, perhaps she could figure out who bought it, and for whom.

Upon close inspection, most of the paper label was either damaged from the fall or covered a layer of dried pink paint. Frisk sighed. It probably was too much to hope that she'd get a definitive answer from the can. She flipped it over looking at the bottom, revealing one new piece of information. Stuck to the bottom was a receipt, covered mostly with paint. However, the small part that was clear and easy to read revealed a startling new piece of information. The paint was purchased earlier this week, the date on the bottom of the paper revealing that it was only a few days ago, after the dance, that it was obtained by the perpetrator. In fact, if she didn't know any better, the receipt looked similar to the ones you would get at a nearby store.

She thought about it for a moment. Perhaps this had something to do with the dance? But, was there really a reason, involving the dance, that would give someone the motive to do this? Frisk wasn't one hundred percent sure, but decided to figure it out later. She took out her phone and took a picture of the date on the bottom of the can, before returning inside.

* * *

As she walked back inside, they were all looking at her, wondering what she was doing outside at night. They were all sitting down in a circle of chairs, likely preparing to start playing a game.

"Uhh, hey guys." She began, hoping no one would ask her what she was up to.

"H-hey, we're about to play Truth or Dare," Verdana said, handing Chara the last cookie, another special made one. Frisk smiled, nodding as she took a seat in the last empty one remaining.

"Ok, so how's it going to work?" Frisk asked.

Alex spoke, "How about everyone gets one free 'pass' on a dare of their choice, and must do the rest anyway?" He recommended. They all made noises of agreement, figuring that was fair.

"So, who should go first? Are we going to spin a bottle, or just take turns?" Asriel asked, not sure how this was all going to play out. Verdana brought a bottle out, and put it in the center, removing the tray and spinning it first. It landed on Frisk.

"I choose truth." She said, wishing to start off slow before dares. Asriel made a sound of disapprovement, but remained silent otherwise.

"W-what's t-the t-thing your most e-embarrassed of?" Verdana asked.

Frisk thought for a moment, staying silent as she tried to form her answer. "I guess the most embarrassing thing that happened would be…" She grinned a bit while her face turned a bit red, "When I was in the Underground, I flirted quite a bit. And this one time, I flirted with Chara, and then she flirted even worse back to me. I was so red for a while that other monsters stopped fighting me, thinking I was one of them." Chara looked away as she began turning red a bit, remembering that event as well.

Alex and Asriel chuckled, having never heard that story before. Sans chuckled too, saying that he remembered that too, though it was rather odd back then when he didn't fully know about Chara. Finally, Frisk spun the bottle. It eventually landed on Asriel.

Asriel, having previously been disappointed in Frisk's choice, choose dare.

Frisk smiled, thinking and looking around the house, "I dare you to, uhh…" She stopped and looked at the fridge in the kitchen. "I dare you to eat one of Papyrus' plates of spaghetti. And not just any of them, one of the ones in the freezer that he made back in the Underground." Asriel's eyes became saucers.

Sans chuckled, _"kid, that's less of a dare, and more like torture."_

Asriel remained silent for a moment, weighing over his options, unsure if he should use his pass, or just eat the pasta. Without much hesitation, he spoke, "I… I pass." He hung his head in defeat as everyone agreed with him that this was the best choice. Next, Asriel spun the bottle, landing on Verdana. "Ok Verd, truth or dare?"

"D-dare," She said. Asriel nodded as he thought of something.

"I dare you to… use your magic to put Chara in one of Papyrus' extra Battle Bodies." He finally said, smiling at the thought. Chara narrowed her eyes at Asriel. Verdana blushed, looking at Chara with a questioning look, silently asking if she was okay with it.

Chara sighed, "You just said she had to put me in his Battle Body, not get me changed, so my clothes stay on while I wear it, nerd." She said towards Asriel, him bowing his head in defeat a bit, but still wishing to see his sister wearing such a large suit. She shrugged to Verdana, the choice ultimately being hers.

Verdana squirmed a bit. "I-i just r-remember, I s-started washing everything a bit a-ago, so I can't," She said.

Asriel sighed before forming a good alternative dare for her, "Then… I dare you to swap sweaters with Chara! The ones you two are wearing now." Chara froze in place.

"O-okay… C-chara, let's g-go to my room, p-privacy," Verdana said.

"Dammit." Asriel muttered under his breath, once again angry that he had not specified where they had to do it. Chara, on the other hand, responded with a grateful smile before following Verdana upstairs. After a moment or two, both of them came back down.

Chara wearing Verdana's blue and yellow sweater now, while Verdana wore Chara's green and yellow sweater. Chara's sweater was more like a dress on the skeleton. Both took their seats as it was, once again, Verdana's turn to spin the bottle… which landed on Sans.

Sans lazily shrugged at the outcome. _"meh, i'll go dare, i guess. what'cha got for me, sis?"_

"I d-dare you to s-stop b-being lazy forever," Verdana said immediately.

Sans shrugged, _"if that's your dare, i'm gonna have to give it a hard pass."_ He waited a moment, _"so, any other ideas? how about 'sans, i dare ya to go to grillby's'? that sounds like a good, fair dare."_ He said, grinning at the younger skeleton.

Verdana smirked. "I d-dare you to g-go pay your tab a-at grillbys," Verdana stated.

He began stroking his chin, _"hmm, ya see, that's another toughy. hmm, i guess i could do that… but you didn't specify with what. how about your allowance? would that work?"_

"N-no, b-because I spent it o-on my drawing stuff," Verdana said with a giggle. "Y-you'll need to use y-your own money."

Sans sighed, _"hmm, you mean all at once, right now?"_ He asked, trying to learn the specifics of this dare before agreeing on it. Verdana nodded. _"man sis, you really want me to pass, dontcha"_

"Y-you can't, y-you just used it," Verdana said. Sans narrowed his eye sockets at her for a moment before shrugging, _"fine."_ He snapped his fingers and a pile of gold coins appeared on the table, well more than 10,000g worth. Everyone's jaw dropped as they stared at the large pile of money on the table, earning a chuckle from Sans.

"W-well? G-go pay Grillby," Verdana said. Sans sighed and snapped his fingers again, making both himself and the gold disappear for a moment before he returned to his seat.

"S-Sans? How'd you have so much money?" Frisk ask curiously.

Sans grinned, _"just cause i had a big tab doesn't mean i couldn't pay it off. i made good coin as asgore's judge in the underground, i was just too lazy to actually pay for everything. That's why grillby let me have a large tab, 'cause he knew i could pay it off."_ His grin grew a bit larger, _"what, you thought i was broke?"_ In response, everyone nodded, making him chuckle some more.

 _"_ _so, my turn to spin?"_ He asked. Verdana nodded to him, and he spun it. Eventually, the bottle landed on Chara.

"Dare." She replied simply, making Sans grin.

 _"_ _i dare you to prank call grillby, ask for papyrus, and tell him a few bad jokes, specifically food puns."_ He said, smirking a bit as he laid out the dare for her. Chara shrugged, relieved this wasn't going to be too bad, and grabbed her phone from her pocket. She dialed the number for Grillby's and was met with Papyrus' voice.

"GREETINGS CALLER, YOU ARE CURRENTLY CALLING THE ESTEEMED GRILLBY'S. THIS IS THE GREAT MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS SPEAKING. WHAT ARE YOU INTERESTED IN THIS EVENING?" Chara didn't even need to put the phone on speaker.

Chara did her best to disguise her voice a bit, earning some giggles from everyone else, "Hello Papyrus, lettuce talk about some of your food options." Papyrus, on the other end of the line, remained silent for a moment, before responding, "OK." Sans was already grinning more than usual.

"Well, wheat like to know about your vegan options." Chara continued, earning another pause from Papyrus and another round of laughter from everyone else.

"W-WELL, WE HAVE PLENTY OF OPTIONS FOR VEGANS. ARE YOU A VEGAN?" He asked, trying to recompose himself, although it was quite obvious that he was not enjoying the phone call.

"No, I'm not a vegan. I heard it'd be a huge missed steak." Everyone could almost hear Papyrus holding back a scream from the other end of the line. "Anyway, I was wondering something about your burgers."

Papyrus finally responded, "YES, WE HAVE SOME OF THE BEST BURGERS AROUND. BUT I THOUGHT YOU WERE ORDERING VEGAN?"

"Well, I'm interested in vegan burgers. Do they come with pickles? For me, it's a huge dill if they don't." Finally, Papyrus broke and screamed in dismay on the other end of the phone.

"DID SANS PUT YOU UP TO THIS? WHOEVER YOU ARE, STOP PLAGUING MY LIFE WITH INCIDENTAL PUNS!" Chara now broke and began laughing, right as Papyrus hung up. Verdana was giggling at the whole thing shaking her skull mirthfully.

Everyone burst into laughter, thoroughly enjoying Sans' dare. After a moment, the laughter died down as Chara returned to her seat, "How was that, Sans?"

Sans chuckled a bit more, _"perfect, kiddo. pure gold."_ Chara smiled and nodded before spinning the bottle, herself. Eventually, the bottle came to a stop, pointing at Verdana. Chara smirked, before leaning over and whispering something to Verdana, quiet enough that no one else heard it.

Verdana blushed and nodded, and the two went upstairs, leaving everyone confused. After a few minutes went by, with no sign of them returning, they returned their attention to the bottle, wondering how to proceed.

Sans shrugged, _"how about, while we wait, we just talk?"_ The other three shrugged and nodded, deciding that it would, at least, pass the time a bit.

Alex looked at Frisk, "Hey, so Frisk, what were you doing earlier, talking with Sans and going outside?"

Frisk looked away for a second before looking back at Alex, "I… I was investigating the whole thing with the paint."

Sans chuckled, _"hehe, yeah. she had to go good cop/ bad cop with me to get information outta me."_

Asriel gave Sans a funny look, "Doesn't the good cop/ bad cop stuff take two people?" Sans simply chuckled again and shrugged.

 _"i dunno. all i know is that it was pretty frisky business."_ Sans replied, grinning. Asriel rolled his eyes at this as Frisk and Alex laughed.

"Well, Detective Frisk, what'd you uncover?" Alex said, smirking a bit and making Frisk blush.

"Well, I uhh, I narrowed down the suspects…" She began before stopping, making everyone lean in a bit in anticipation. Except for Sans, he stayed reclined in his seat, the front two legs off the ground as he held his chair in place with magic. "... and I think Verdana did it."

Sans' smile remained in its normal position, not faltering in the slightest, _"alright detective, and how did you come to that realization?"_ Frisk smiled as she explained.

"Well, upon observing the front door, I discovered that it was incapable of holding the can of paint. Therefore, something like blue magic or teleportation must have been used to hit Alex. After talking and interviewing witnesses and suspects, it was confirmed that the only individuals capable of blue magic or teleportation had rock solid alibis… except Verdana."

She paused for a moment before continuing, "When I looked at the paint can, I found a date on the bottom, confirming that it was purchased only a few days ago, after the dance. And, the fact that it's pink could also point to Verdana, especially since she told me earlier that she was 'in her room, drawing'. If she's into art, that'd be a good excuse to get paint for a prank." Everyone remained silent for a moment.

"U-unfortunately, it's all just hunches at this point. There's no proof that the paint was hers, or that she was the one who used it. Plus, I lack a good and clear motive for the prank, other than it may have involved the dance…" Sans froze in place for a moment before quickly hiding his realization.

'... _well, if you think they took it too far, why not get revenge on them later too. they could come over next week for a sleepover and you could get them back…'_ Sans remembered his conversation with Verdana at the dance when she was having her little meltdown. It all made sense, especially when he also recalled that Alex took on all of the blame for the prank, saving Sans and Frisk from any further consequences. He'd have to remember to possibly say something to Verdana.

Asriel began to connect a few dots, "Maybe it had to do with the prank on me and Chara. We agreed to a truce, but she never did. Plus, she was pretty upset over the whole thing."

Frisk snapped her fingers, "And there's the motive. She had both the means and the motive to do it, so it must have been her. In fact, I bet if we asked Gaster, he'd confirm that he bought the can of paint for her." She looked at Alex, "What should we do now Alex? Confront her when she gets back downstairs?" Alex remained silent for a moment, looking at the floor with a frown. After a moment, he spoke, "No."

They all did a double take. Frisk looked the most shocked, "But… she ruined your outfit and embarrassed you! She deserves a bit of justice."

Alex looked up at Frisk, "Frisk… I kinda deserved it. I mean, after what we pulled with Asriel and Chara…" He paused for a moment, before continuing, "Let me talk to her, alone. Ok?" Frisk, although she greatly disagreed with Alex's conclusion, sighed and agreed.

"Fine. But if she does that again, it's on!" Alex chuckled a bit at that, before he reached over and pulled Frisk closer to himself. Both of them smiled and snuggled up with each other while remaining on their seats, earning a fake gagging sound from Asriel.

A bit more time went by, before Verdana and Chara came downstairs, Verdana holding a painting canvas. they all smiled at the two of them as they returned. _"heya sis, whatcha got there?"_ Sans asked, pointing at the canvas.

Verdana turned the canvas, showing a painting of Chara in Verd's sweater, it looking pretty much like a mirror. They all had wide eyes as they observed the amazing artwork. "Nice job Verd, that's amazing!" Asriel complimented.

Frisk and Alex nodded in agreement, both with wide, sincere smiles. Although Frisk looked over to the side for a moment before getting up, "I'm gonna get a bit of water." She announced before walking into the kitchen.

Verdana tilted her head, a bit confused, but shrugged. "S-so, w-what happened while we were gone?" Verdana asked the group, setting the painting down next to the couch as she took a seat.

Sans shrugged, _"not too much. we just talked a bit."_

Alex got up and spoke to Verdana, "Hey Verd, mind if I talk to you a bit before we start again… alone?" Chara eyed Alex suspiciously when he said that. Verdana looked confused again, but shrugged again and followed him. They both went upstairs and went into Verdana's room after Alex asked her if it'd be ok. After a moment, they were both inside the room with the door closed behind them, giving them both some privacy.

* * *

"S-so, what's up?" Verdana asked.

"I, uh…" He looked away for a moment before finishing his thought, "I wanted to see if you would tell me who did the paint thing to me…" He finally said, still looking away. Verdana looked confused.

"W-why would I know?" She asked him.

Over to the side, where Alex was looking, laid a few smaller cans of paint, which were likely used for other drawings and such. In the pile, there was a pink one. "I, uh… I figured out who did it to me. I'm, umm, not v-very mad, it's just…" He closed his eyes for a moment before sighing and turning towards Verdana, locking his eyes onto her sockets, "I know it was you." He finally said.

The little skeleton only looked more confused at his accusation. "B-but… my p-paints right there, I _couldn't_ h-have," She said, gesturing to the paint cans.

Alex frowned a bit, but remained composed, "It couldn't have been the other skeletons, and it required magic of some sort to pull off. Plus, you have reason enough to drench me in paint…" Alex thought back to the Dance last week, remembering the moment where his laughter at the success of his prank shifted into regret when he saw the hate aura around Verdana.

"B-but _I_ d-didn't," Verdana said, looking a 'little' upset now. Alex looked at her, waiting for a quirk of hers. If she lied, her eye would flash yellow, to signify that she wasn't being truthful… but nothing happened.

"Well… I do know that you didn't purposefully get me the second time, with the water. Plus, now that I think about it, it was pretty abnormal to learn that all of Sans' clothes were being washed… anyway…" He looked away a bit, "I'd like to apologize for the Dance prank again. Like I said that night, hating me is understandable… we all know I deserve it… but… if you plan on doing anything toward me, even if you really didn't do the paint, try to be a bit more precise… that way Frisk is fully spared from any of it."

"B-but I w-wouldn't! I-i was _mad_ , b-but that's w-why I d-do so much s-stuff, to vent!" Verana said, sniffling. "I-it's n-not easy b-being h-happy, m-most of m-my memorys t-that I have h-have some sort of b-bad part…" She mumbled.

Alex sighed heavily, in shame, doubting that she was the one to do it now. "I'm not much a detective, you know that, right? I'm not sure if you did it or not, but if you did, I forgive you. And if I'm wrong, and you're completely innocent, I'm sorry for accusing you." He looked up at her, with tears forming in his own eyes now, "You know, you're not the only one with bad memories… " He paused.

Verdana, not wanting to have this conversation anymore, simply turtled up. Her main blaster, having been around so long, seemed to have gained a, at least partial, mind of it's own, glared at the male. It flew at him, picking him up and depositing him out of the door to Verds room, slamming it shut.

Upon hitting the carpet in the hall, Alex's shock turned to action as he moved to wipe the tears from his eyes before they fell. He stood up and composed himself, facing the closed door and speaking with a tight throat, "I'm… glad we c-could have th-this talk…" He then walked back downstairs to be with everyone else. The blaster freaked him out a little, having forgotten about it for a while.

Frisk saw his grim, depressed expression, and looked at Alex with concern. "A-are you alright, Alex?" Alex, still frowning, shook his head and wrapping his arm around Frisk.

"I… I think Verd's done with me for a while…" He said, still holding Frisk closely. "I-If she was the one who dropped the paint, she must've lost her m-memory or something, because it doesn't seem like she was the one who did it."

Frisk looked at Alex with even more concern now, "I… I'm so sorry Alex. I ruined your friendship with her over my hunches!" She apologized, her eyes beginning to water. Before she could say any more, Alex grabbed Frisk and interrupted her with a quick kiss, before pulling back and combing his hand through her hair.

"It's not your fault Frisk. We must've missed something, then. That's all. Even the greatest detectives makes mistakes." He reassured her.

* * *

Back at the Lab, now all alone since he sent both Alphys and Sans home for the evening, Gaster sat as his desk in the lab. They've been getting closer and closer to a soul trait breakthrough. Ever since he'd seen the energy readings and such from Jordan Sower's unique golden soul, Gaster's been determined to uncover its trait and true abilities. Unfortunately, the only unique, rare traits he been able to study, up until this point, has been Hate and Purity.

Purity was limited to study only when Alex volunteered to let them gather data over his soul. It seems Purity is unique in both this timeline and the rest of the multiverse. Hate, on the other hand, is so powerful and unpredictable, that studying it is dangerous and, ultimately, not really worth his time. But… he's recently pinpointed a timeline with a unique Soul-energy reading, which meant that another, unknown soul trait existed there. Hopefully, it was another golden soul, but he wasn't certain.

After doing all of the calculations, he managed to perfectly pinpoint the coordinates for the timeline. The data, although fairly raw still, is precise enough to allow his QMA to open a rift to the other timeline.

But… Gaster was no fool. He knew that whoever this person was, they had an equal chance of being good or evil, but there was no way to know for certain until he tries. In preparation, as the QMA booted up, he turned on the Magical Inhibitors in case the other entity was hostile. Thinking back on it, it was quite odd how he made the discovery of this other timeline. It was almost as if something out there, in the multiverse, led him straight to it.

Suddenly, the lab was filled with a sonic boom as the QMA successfully connected the timelines. He peered into the vortex and saw various colors, yet the many colors occasionally 'glitched' into their negatives, making the vortex look like it was suffering from a visual glitch in a video game.

Suddenly, someone fell through the vortex and landed on the floor before him face-down. Whoever it was, they were damaged pretty badly, their clothes were filled with rips and holes. Without hesitation, he switched off the portal to prevent any pursuing parties from coming over here as well. As the sounds of the QMA died down, Gaster finally got a good look at the newcomer.

She, or it at least appears to be a she, wore a pink and purple long sleeve sweater and matching purple leggings. Over the pants was what appeared to be a red skirt and a brown pair of boots. Her face was down on the floor and covered by a head of shoulder length brown hair with what also appeared to be pink highlights. After a moment, she began to stir, placing both hands on the cold floor beneath her as she tried to get up.

Gaster, against his better judgement, ran over to her side and helped sit her up. Now that he was close, and could see her face, he could see she had large, pretty pink eyes. She looked around her surroundings quickly before looking at Gaster with a fearful expression.

 ** _"_** ** _Shh, easy there child. Are you alright?"_** He asked her. She looked at him with a confused expression for a moment before she slowly nodded.

 ** _"_** ** _My name is Gaster, what is yours, young one?"_**

She remained silent for a moment before she spoke in a soft, delicate voice, "I'm Betty." She said with a large, sweet smile on her face.

* * *

 ** _Author's Note:_**

 ** _And thus begins our next arc into the multiverse. I'm sure many of you know who Betty is and what she represents. I hope you're prepared, because I know everyone else isn't. So sorry for ending this week on a cliffhanger, but more will be coming next week. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!_**

 ** _If you liked Detective Frisk, the paint prank, and the inclusion of a new Soul Trait, let us know. Leave a Fav, Follow, Review, or PM, depending on how you feel. If there's a typo, let me know too. Any help is appreciated. Thanks for reading.  
_**

 ** _-swrWriter_**


	22. Let the Nightmares Begin

As the kids sat there, talking together with Sans, waiting for Verdana to come back down, Gaster arrived home. This time, using the front door, rather than just phasing into his room, which caught them all by surprise for a moment. However, they all looked even more confused when Gaster arrived with an uninvited guest. Sans spoke first.

" _heya dad, who's the kid?"_ Sans asked, looking at the scared little girl in pink.

Gaster smiled, " _ **This is Betty."**_

" _cool."_ He replied with a shrug before continuing in a slightly mocking tone, " _heya dad, why's betty here?"_

" _ **She was attacked, so I'm letting her stay for the night while I do a bit more research. She has a unique, pink soul trait. Mind watching her for a bit?"**_

Sans looked like he was hesitating for a moment before finally giving in, " _alright, fine. but i think this should count as overtime."_

Gaster narrowed his sockets at his son, " _ **In your dreams."**_ He then turned to look at Betty, " _ **Do not worry Betty, none of them will hurt you. I'll be back later."**_ The little girl smiled warmly and nodded to the skeleton before he, once again, left. Returning to his lab to do research on her pink soul.

Frisk got up and approached her, "Hi Betty, I'm Frisk." She said, extending her hand toward the new kid. She smiled warmly to Frisk and shook her hand, replying in her sweet voice, "Thanks. Nice to meet you Frisk." Sans, seeing as how the rest of the Dreemurrs were making introductions with Betty, took the opportunity to check on Verdana.

As he shortcutted up the stairs, he decided to stop in his room for a moment, looking at his new nightstand beside his bed. He opened the drawer while also reaching into his pocket and taking out a piece of paper that had been on his mind. He opened it to look down at its contents once more. It was odd, and almost frightening when he discovered the message. He knew, almost at once, that this was from someone outside of the timeline, but he was unsure how to feel about it.

" **Do not worry about Verdana. The thing that caused that incident is still here. And he's not alone."** The remainder of the message was unclear, unnerving Sans while also confusing him, " **A glitched mirror. A Megalomaniac. The True Judge. Two enemies, one friend. Choose wisely."**

It appeared in his pocket shortly after he returned from that other world where everything was swapped, but knew it was not from that world. He knew now what this 'person' meant about Verdana after his talk with Gaster, but the rest of it simply alarmed him. The one responsible for the explosion at the lab was still out there? And there was more than just a single individual responsible? He simply sighed as he removed it from his pocket and set it in his drawer before closing it. A riddle for another day, he thought.

After finishing up with that, he shortcutted back into the hallway, right outside of Verdana's room.

He knocked twice on her bedroom door from the hallway, deciding this would be better than popping inside, unannounced on her. " _knock, knock."_ He said in sync with his knocking, hoping to get her attention.

"G-go away!" She shouted from inside.

" _c'mon verd, what's the matter? i'm sure your big bro sans could help."_ He replied, ignoring her request.

"J-just leave m-me alone!" She shouted, sniffling coming from inside the room. Before Sans could do a thing, there was a distinctive whirring noise. Sans did his best to play cool, trying to ignore the fact that he was now surrounded by blasters.

" _listen verd, i don't know what exactly happened with you and alex, but i know he's broken up about it too. please, we can just talk this out. it sounds like it's all just a simple misunderstanding."_ He tried, speaking in a calm, collected voice… even though he was ready to spring at a moments notice if the blasters fired. As if by some unvoiced order, they soon did.

Sans sighed as he sidestepped with perfect timing, stepping between the beams of energy at a speed he shouldn't be able to. In turn, he brought up his blasters to absorb the damage, rather than allow the magic to hit the walls. He spoke again in a neutral tone, " _c'mon sis, you should know i won't just stand there and take it."_

He heard no response except for her crying, her blasters… may not have fired on her will. He used his magic to shortcut inside the room, reappearing right beside Verdana. " _sis... verdana. are you alright?"_ He asked in concern.

She simply sniffled, curled up facing away from him, refusing to answer. " _c'mon, what would papy think of seeing you like this?"_ He asked is a quieter tone, " _everyone makes mistakes and loses control sometimes. it's ok."_ He reassured her. After another moment without response, he spoke again, " _what about chara? she's worried about you."_

Verdana sniffled, peeking back at him a little. He had her attention. He slowly knelt down beside her, " _listen verdana. me, paps, g, chara, her siblings, they all worry about you. alex must've made you really upset, and i know he didn't exactly come back downstairs happy either. The only thing that cheered him up was having frisk there for him…. just like chara and you needing each other."_

The little skeleton girl stared at him for another couple seconds… before turning back away. She wanted to go downstairs… but she also didn't want to see Alex right now, and really, couldn't muster the will to get up and go down there.

Sans chuckled softly, " _c'mon sis, i'm supposed to be the lazy one, not you. plus, g brought home a guest. she seems real nice."_

Unfortunately, this just made her want to go down there _less_. She… wasn't good with new people. " _sis, c'mon. she's shy too, and we were all waiting for you before we all continued playing. it's chara's turn to spin."_

Verdana, despite how much she wanted to just tell him to continue without her, forced herself up, avoiding looking at her brother. He smiled a bit as he led her back downstairs, while using a tissue he had with him to clean some of her tears off of her face. Downstairs, there was now an additional chair, with Betty sitting in that one. Betty waved and smiled weakly at Verdana as she descended.

Sans motioned toward her, " _that's betty. g mentioned she had a unique soul trail like alex. he told me pink, but i don't know what that means. maybe pink is the trait for girlyness?"_ Verdana kept her head back, claiming her seat next to Chara and leaning into her, hiding her face in Chara's side. Chara smiled, relieved that Verdana was ok, before wrapping her arm around Verdana and holding her tightly.

"So, what are we doing?" Betty asked innocently.

Chara smirked, "We're playing Truth or Dare, and I'm spinning." She spun the bottle before it landed on Asriel, making him frown. He finally decided on his answer, "Truth. I don't need spaghetti tonight." Everyone laughed except for two, Verd because she was still upset and Betty who didn't completely get it, but smiled anyway at everyone's happiness.

Chara looked down at Verdana for a moment, thinking of her question before she responded, "We all know who we have crushes on… but who do YOU have a crush on, Asriel?" Everyone looked to Asriel in anticipation, also wondering who he liked. His face turned red for a moment before he finally answered.

"W-well, there's this girl in our class who sits a row behind us. She has these big blue eyes and long blonde hair, and she always wears this lime green skirt. A-and, she the nicest person in the class. I-in fact, we d-danced together last week… not that any of YOU noticed…" His face getting redder and redder and he talked.

"What was her name, Azzy?" Chara asked, smirking.

"H-her n-name's Isabel." He finally answered. Most of them nodded, kinda-sorta remembering Isabel… but not really. Chara, however, stored this information for later and smiled.

"Thanks Azzy. You can spin the bottle now." Chara said. Asriel's blush began to die down and he leaned forward to spin the bottle again. It spun and spun before it landed on the newcomer, Betty.

"Alright Betty, truth or dare?"

Betty sat there for a moment before looking up with a small, weak smile. "H-how about… dare."

Asriel smiled as he tried to think of something. But, first, he asked a question, "Do you know magic, Betty?"

Betty shrugged, "Yeah, a l-little bit."

Asriel nodded, "Alright, then… I dare you to… show us your soul." He finally said.

"W-why?" She asked, a bit confused.

"Well, Dr. Gaster said you had a unique soul trait, so I wanted to see what your soul looked like." Asriel motioned towards the other three humans, "Chara and Frisk are unique because they have Determination. And Alex is unique because he has Purity. So, I wanted to see your soul."

Betty smiled weakly and nodded, as if ashamed of her unique soul. "O-ok. I know they're the only ones with red and silver souls…" She took both hands and put them over her chest, before pulling them forward and bringing her soul out, it's pink color shined brightly for all of them to see, "... and I'm the only one with a pink one."

Asriel stared at it, "That's so cool… and pretty!" Betty blushed a bit at his compliment, grabbing one of her arms with her other and looking down in embarrassment. Chara nudged Verdana a bit to get her attention, motioning towards the pink soul in front of them.

Verdana looked at the SOUL, and felt a headache form, causing her to clutch her skull and curl up in discomfort. Chara looked at her in worry for a moment before holding her tightly. "You ok, Verd?" She asked in concern as Betty put her soul back into herself.

"H-headache…" Verdana whispered, whimpering a little. Sans turned towards her with a small, worry-filled frown before standing up.

" _hey verd, need some medicine? i'm sure we have some."_ Sans asked, pointing over his shoulder towards the bathroom upstairs. Verdana nodded a little.

"G-get it f-for me, please," She requested, a bit dizzy as well. Sans nodded before heading upstairs to grab some medicine for his sister. While they were waiting, Asriel looked to Betty with wonder.

"That is so cool." He paused for a moment in thought, "What's your timeline like, Betty? I'm sure it's awesome with a soul like that."

Betty blushed for a moment before frowning, "W-well, everyone is mean to me because of my special soul." She looked at Frisk for a moment, "Y-you were leading everyone, trying to kill me. Even g-going a-as far as to earn LOVE to k-kill me." Frisk looked horrified for a moment before Alex pulled Frisk closer to comfort her.

Betty continued, "M-my best and only friend, Kumu… he's still back there… probably dead…" She said, looking like she was holding back tears before smiling weakly, "B-but Doctor Gaster s-said he'd help save Kumu and bring him here."

Asriel smiled warmly at her, "That's good. I'd worry about any of my friends and family if we were separated like that."

Chara narrowed her eyes at Asriel for a moment, throwing her hands in the air in mock anger, "We WERE separated like that! Don't you remember those redder versions of Undyne and Papyrus?"

"O-oh yeah…" Asriel said, blushing a bit in embarrassment. He then turned back toward Betty, "Don't worry Betty, I'm sure Kumu is just fine!"

Chara looked up the stairs for a moment, tilting her head in both confusion and frustration. "What's taking that stupid comedian so long? Verdana's headache is not getting any better." She said, looking down at Verdana with worry. She turned to look at Asriel, "Hey Azzy, why don't you and your new gf go upstairs to check on Sans." Asriel turned red, looking away in embarrassment before looking down at the ground.

Betty shot up from her seat with a large smile, sounding super excited, "Yeah, c'mon Azzy! Let's go check on him!" Asriel finally gave in and stood up in defeat, following the excited girl up the stairs and down the hall, away from view.

Chara shouted upstairs after a moment without a response, "You find him?"

After a moment, Betty returned into view, holding a bottle of pills and smiling. "He fell asleep." This earned an eye roll from nearly everyone still seated.

"What about Asriel? Where'd he disappear off to?" Chara asked, relieved that Betty was now returning with some medicine for her girl.

"I think he said he was gonna take a shower and get dressed in pjs." Betty answered.

Chara sighed, "Well, he'll be in there for a while…" Suddenly, lightning flashed outside and thunder boomed aloud, frightening them for a moment. It began to storm outside.

Betty held out the bottle to Chara, who grabbed a nearby cup with milk, which she had grabbed for Verdana earlier, and held it out toward Verd with two pills. "Here Verd, try this."

The little girl nodded, taking the pills and milk. Unfortunately, this combination was perfect to knock the little skeleton right out. She fell asleep fairly quickly, her full weight now against Chara, although it wasn't very uncomfortable for either of them. Chara smiled at her sleeping form before picking her up and holding her in her arms.

"I'm gonna go take sleeping beauty upstairs." She said with a smile before ascending the staircase and leaving Frisk, Alex, and Betty downstairs. She went immediately to Verdana's room and went inside, laying her gently on the bed. She gave Verdana a quick kiss on her cheekbone before exiting the room. As soon as she made it to the hallway, thunder crashed outside and made the house pitch black.

She heard a girl's scream, and quickly assumed it was probably Alex. She chuckled a bit to herself before she noticed something odd. There wasn't any sort of scream or noise coming from the bathroom, which was odd considering Asriel's hatred of thunder and the dark. In fact, she brushed her hand against the bathroom door to find it unlocked, swinging open easily.

She was unable to see inside until the power fluctuated again, turning the lights on and revealing the contents of the bathroom. Both Asriel and Sans were leaning against the wall, with eyes wide open. However, both sets of irises were an abnormal pink color and their faces had a twisted, horrified expression on them.

On cue, the lights flashed on and off again suddenly, before the house was then filled with fiendish giggles. The girly laughter filled the house and made Chara's skin crawl. She called out, "Alex? Frisk?"

...But nobody came…

She'd seen enough horror movies to know what should and should not be done, and, most importantly, what should be done but never is. She pulled out her phone and quickly clicked on the first contact. Ring. Ring.

"Howdy Chara."

"Dad! I need you over here right now!" She replied with urgency.

"Chara, slow down. What happened?" He replied with a worried, but calm tone.

"A-Azzy… Frisk… E-e-everyone… I n-need help." The giggling echoed one more, loud enough to be heard by Asgore on the other end of the line. The evil laughter made him pause for a moment.

"Chara, I'm on my way. Stay on the line, Chara."

"O-ok dad… I'm s-scared…" More giggling was heard, closer this time. Again, the power went out for a moment, before returning and revealing Betty standing before her with a wicked grin on her face.

"Heheheheh. Hey Chara~ What's the matter? Afraid?" Betty asked, before sending a pink wave of energy at Chara, forcing her to take a few steps back. Her vision began turning pink and her body felt heavy, forcing her to kneel, both hands now firmly on the ground.

"Hehehe, so much for your Determination~! Good night…" Chara's vision turned from pink to black, while her irises turned from red to pink. She fell into her nightmares, right as Betty left toward Verdana's room to put her under as well…

* * *

After Betty finished putting Verdana and the rest of them into their worst nightmares, she returned back downstairs. With them all out of commission, she'd finally be able to kill them without anyone knowing. Sure, without Kumu, the souls were useless to her… but she'd simply LOVE to kill Frisk. Maybe it wasn't her Frisk, but it'd be fun nonetheless.

She went back downstairs, looking at Alex's and Frisk's forms as they laid there. She smiled sweetly at them before turning towards Frisk. Using the magic in her soul, she formed a pink spear in her dominant hand as she walked towards the slumbering girl. She giggled a bit to herself. After this, she was going to go figure out how to bring Kumu here. This world… this world would be easy to destroy.

Right as she raised the spear to kill Frisk, the door burst open, revealing Asgore in his full armor standing there, trident in hand. He stared at Betty with her weapon before raising his own and swinging it at Betty, his eye glowing blue before he struck. Betty was forced to remain in place while the blue weapon passed harmlessly over her, giving Asgore a chance to approach. He sent a wave of fire magic at the girl. Hot enough to burn, but not hot enough to set the house ablaze, the flames flew towards the girl.

She jumped back and ran at him, before swiping her pink magical wave of energy at the king, forcing both of his eyes to glow pink. She giggled at the former king collapsed against the wall, falling into a nightmare of his own. Now, she took a moment to catch her breath. That was… inconvenient… to say the least. She turned her attention back to Frisk.

Now… time to kill her…

* * *

A scream rung out as the power simultaneously went out as well. However, this one was from Frisk, as Betty held her up with inhuman strength by the throat. Whatever Betty did, it pushed him back as the power came back on. "CHARA!" Alex called upstairs, desperately calling for help.

"Hehehe. But no one came!"" Betty announced, now losing all of her prior innocence and kind appearance. It was all an illusion.

Betty, still holding Frisk, threw her back into the wall, beside the TV. Upon impact, Frisk yelled out in pain as she fell to her knees, only before being picked up by the throat once more. Alex tried to move closer to Betty, but found himself unable to do so. Looking down, he noticed pink, magical tentacles holding him in place.

Betty giggled again, "Ooohhhh~" She said, examining Frisk as her red soul came out. "Determination. How beautiful… I could use some…" She said, smirking at Frisk as she attempted to squirm free of Betty's grasp… but was unable to do so, which made Betty giggle even more.

She turned around to face Alex, "So, you're her boyfriend, yes? I'll let you decide how she dies. Would you like me to stab her soul? Or maybe, you'd prefer something longer and more drawn out… like drowning or burning, perhaps?"

Alex felt Hate build up inside of him, tainting his silver soul and turning it black. He knew the risks, but he also knew that with Hate's power, he could easily overpower his restraints and stop Betty… but why **stop there when he could just kill her. It'd be so easy…**

Suddenly, Alex felt his soul turn pitch black. He was filled with Pure Hate. He, without much effort at all, broke free and send a bunch of dark energy at Betty, knocking her aside. When Betty hit the other wall, she was still giggling.

"Hehehe, you don't get it, do you? Frisk wanted this. She hates you and your Purity, just like how she hates me and my Fear." Alex shook his head, there's no way she could be telling the truth, Frisk would never… **but Betty has no reason to lie. What if Frisk has been lying to you this whole time? She deserves more than just justice…**

Alex, against his deepest desires, turned toward Frisk with Hate-filled eyes. It was almost as if Alex was taking a backseat and watching himself do this. " **Frisk!"**

Frisk, now released from Betty's grip, looked up at Alex with a smile. That is, until she saw the look in his eyes. "A-Alex? W-what's g-g-going on?"

Betty called out from the side, "She never loved you Alex. It was all an illusion, and you saw how easy it is to fake love and kindness." Her voice was a pleasant whisper in Alex's Hate-filled ears.

" **You lied to me? You never loved me?! You just… played with my emotions! Like this is just some sort of game!"** Alex spat at her in rage. Yet, deep within, he was doing everything in his power to stop… but the Hate had control of him. He… he shouldn't have given into it so easily.

Frisk looked terrified now, backing up against the wall, tears forming in her eyes, "A-Alex! P-p-please, that's n-not true. I do love y-" She was cut off by a tendril of pure Hate magic wrapping around her neck and pushed her against the wall.

" **LIES! You deserve to die for what you've done to me!"** Alex's Hate-filled form screamed at her, squeezing the breath out of Frisk as the magic wrapped around her body. Preventing her from being able to breath. Her red soul was still out, slowly filling with black cracks.

"A-... Ale… ex…" Frisk tried, but was unable to do anything. Until… she fell limp. Her soul before her, shattering into a million pieces. Her form, lifeless. This snaps Alex out of his hate, his soul instantly turning its normal silver color, which now began to form cracks as he began to panic..

As soon as he was released his Hate, he ran over and held Frisk's lifeless form in his arms. Tears already formed and began flowing down Alex's face as he held her close, brushing her hair from her face.

"No… no no no no no no noooo… FRISK! I- I didn't mean it Frisk… I..." He cried out as he hugged her closely. As he continued to break down while holding her, he heard Betty's giggling from behind.

"Hehehehe, look what happened Alex. Heh heh heh, you couldn't control yourself. You're a murderer." Alex continued crying, holding Frisk closer now as he tried to protect her delicate form from Betty.

"Hehehe, you're trying to protect her from me? Why? If anything, she needs protection from you!" This stung Alex, making his look down upon Frisk's form, his whole body trembling. Betty was right. He couldn't control himself, and he killed Frisk because of it. He was a danger to her… He… He…

Alex's thoughts were interrupted by Betty, "But… there's a way to bring her back…" Betty spoke softly. "I can save her…" Alex looked up as his tears began to come to a stop.

"R-really? What do I n-need to d-do? I… I'll d-do anything!" Alex begged.

Betty frowned, "But Alex~, if I bring her back, who's to say you won't kill her again?" She asked Alex, who nodded. "...But If you give me your soul, I could bring her back… and she'd be safe."

Alex looked at her with fear in his eyes, "Y-yeah, b-b-but…"

Betty smiled sweetly at Alex, "But if you really loved her, you'd be willing to lay down your life for her's."

Alex couldn't form a response.

However… something odd was happening with his soul. It began to feel… warmer…

He looked down to see Frisk was no longer in his arms. In fact, Frisk was nowhere to be seen. He looked up to see a panicked expression on Betty's face as she, too, took a step back.

"W-what are you doing?" She asked him. "D-don't you want to save Frisk?!"

Somehow… Alex's head felt much clearer. He slowly shook his head, "T-this… this isn't real…" Alex looked around and confirmed this as the walls and decor of the skeleton's house faded away into darkness. Alex's soul began to feel warmer now, slowing turning into a reddish color. He… was filled with Pure Determination.

Alex's red soul began to shine brighter and brighter, illuminating the dreamscape, making Betty panic as she, too, began to fade. "No! You can't do this! N-no one should be able to b-break free!"

Alex couldn't help but allow a small smile to form, "Well, guess you didn't have Purity where you're from!" Suddenly, the world flashed around Alex, overloading all of his senses…

Then… he woke up.

* * *

Alex's eyes suddenly relaxed as the pink glow faded from his pupils. He looked around the house before quickly spotting Frisk, Betty… and dad? He saw Asgore leaning against the wall and sliding down it as he released his trident from his grasp, his eyes now glowing pink. Betty smirked and began walking back towards Frisk, not noticing Alex's awakening.

Alex, as stealthily as possible, pulled himself to his feet and summoned forth his soul. As expected, it was silver. No longer tainted with Fear, but also no longer empowered by Determination. Instead, he focused on his soul as he felt Pure energy begin building within it. Perhaps… Betty was weak to Purity, considering the fact that it allowed him to escape whatever nightmare she made for him.

As his soul began silently humming and nearly overflowing with energy, he smirked a bit to himself. He sure hoped this would hurt. Right as the Pure magic was released from his soul, he spoke, "This is for Frisk, you piece of shit."

The energy blasted off and sailed through the air before directly hitting Betty in the chest, knocking her away from Frisk and making her weapon dissipate. "AHhhhh!" She screamed as she hit the far wall in the kitchen hard. A magical sort of silver steam-like energy radiated off of her as she tried to stand back up. "Grrrrrrrrrrr!" She growled before leaping through the window beside her, taking off into the night.

As soon as she was gone, he let out a sigh of relief before realizing Frisk had still not moved for her position. He ran over to her side and held her in his arms, brushing his hand over her face and moving her hair out of the way. He let out another sigh when he realized she was still breathing. Horrifying images of her corpse still flashed in his head.

Alex looked at Frisk in worry as he held her. Maybe she was stuck in a nightmare as well, unable to escape… maybe Purity was the only way to counter Betty's fear? After a moment of debating, he focused on his soul, feeling his Purity magic flow through him as he held Frisk closely, sending the magic into her soul.

Hopefully… this would work…

* * *

A scream rung out as the power simultaneously went out as well. However, this one was from Alex, as Betty threw him to the side and into the wall. Frisk, from her spot on the floor, tried to get back up, but her ears were filled with various screams from everyone else right as the lights turned back on. Chara, Sans, Asriel, Verdana, everyone was in pain. Suddenly, dust began blowing down the stairs, confirming that they were dead.

Frisk felt tears forming in her eyes as she looked up and focused on Betty, who was ignoring her and quickly approaching Alex. She held a long, pink spear in her hands as she approached, preparing to murder Frisk's boyfriend in front of her. She cried out, "Please, no! Leave him alone!"

Betty stopped in her tracks and turned around to face Frisk. "But Frisk~ What were you expecting? This is the way it has to be!" She giggled sinisterly before turning back around and quickly arriving in front of Alex. "Hehehehe, say goodnight Alex~"

Before Alex could respond, she thrusted her spear into his chest, piercing his soul and killing him instantly. His limp body fell to the floor as his soul shattered, the pieces falling over the floor as Betty retracted her spear from his now bloody chest.

"NOOO!" Frisk screamed as tears rolled down her face. She reached out towards Alex before her vision faded into black…

…

Frisk woke up with a killer headache. What happened? She opened her eyes to find she was staring into darkness. Perhaps the power was out again? Then… she felt flowers beneath her.

She sat up quickly, looking around, trying desperately to find proof that she wasn't where she thought she was. Immediately in front of her were some pillars, proving she was, once again, in the Ruins in the Underground.

She sat up and looked behind her, only to find Alex's dead body lying there, the stab wound from Betty's spear was still bleeding, but he was now wearing his original outfit minus the pink paint.

"W-what? B-but I Reset, didn't I? Y-y-you can't b-be dead!" Frisk stuttered, tears forming in her eyes now. After a moment, she heard a voice clear their throat behind her. She turned around to see a floating, ghostly Chara. Her arms were crossed across her chest. She didn't look happy.

"Really Frisk? You Reset everything?" Chara asked in a disgusted tone, eyes narrowed.

"B-but Ch-chara! Y-you, a-and Alex. Y-you all died!" Frisk cried while trying to explain herself.

"So? You could have just loaded a Save from the day before. You didn't have to force everyone back Underground!" She yelled angrily at her. Before Frisk could respond, Chara continued, only getting angrier, "Frisk, Azzy's a Flower again, I'm dead again, Verdana is gone again, Gaster is in the Void again, and the rest are back Underground! What the fuck Frisk?!" Frisk began to cry. She wasn't trying to Reset, she just wanted to save everyone.

"I thought you were different than the other humans! I thought you were my sister!" Chara cried out, ectoplasmic tears forming in her eyes now.

Frisk gently reached out toward Chara, "Ch-chara, p-please…"

Chara shook her head and wiped her tears away, "No! No Frisk. I'm done. I'm done with you. Sans, Flo-Azzy, me… we're going to tell everyone what you did…"

"B-but Chara…"

"YOU THINK YOU'RE ABOVE CONSEQUENCES?!" She screamed at Frisk, making her recoil back. "Well, you're fucking not, ok!? It's over Frisk… I hope you're happy!" And with that, Chara left, leaving Frisk all alone with Alex's body.

Frisk remained unresponsive for a moment before burying her head between her legs where she sat, crying into them. "I-I'm s-s-o sorry! I-I didn't m-mean t-t-to Reset…" She cried, all alone. Abandoned.

She ruined everyone's happy ending. She could have saved everyone. She could have had a second chance at a family… with Alex. But now… he, and everyone else, were gone. And it was all her fault. She continued to cry and sob alone in the cavern, the only light source came from the hole in the ceiling, which only served to show Frisk her crimes.

Was she really no better than anyone else? She sat alone for a bit before an odd, fuzzy feeling began in her soul. Her sobbing faltered a bit before she heard a voice behind her, somewhere close to Alex's body.

"F-Frisk…?" It… it sounded a lot like Alex. She sat up and spun around quickly, turning to look in Alex's direction.

What she found was Alex, his eyes were open and he was gently smiling at Frisk. Somehow, he was alive… despite the bleeding wound in his chest still. But, Frisk didn't care about the impossibilities. She leaped to Alex, landing beside him and burying her face into his arms as they closed around her in an embrace.

"A-Alex?! Y-you're alive!?" Frisk asked in wonder between sobs of joy.

Alex chuckled, "Heh, of course I am Frisk." He reassured her, holding her closely and comforting his girlfriend.

After a moment, Frisk looked up at Alex, tears still fresh on her face. "A-Alex… I R-reset everything… I ruined e-everything…"

"Shhhh." Alex whispered, taking one of his hands and using it to wipe away Frisk's tears from her face. "No you didn't." Frisk looked at him with confusion. What could he be talking about? There was no way this wasn't real. Alex seemed to know what she was thinking, shaking his head for a moment, "Do you trust me Frisk?"

Frisk opened her mouth in shock before nodding wildly, "O-of course I trust you!"

Alex smiled gently, "Let me see your soul, Frisk…"

Frisk hesitated for a moment before nodding, pulling her soul from her chest and showing it to Alex. Alex nodded as Frisk's eyes shot open in surprise. On her soul were large, pink cracks. Around the edges of her soul was a pink aura, which reminded her of Betty.

"W-What is that?" Frisk asked.

"It's Betty's influence on you…" He looked up into her beautiful eyes and smiled at her, "This isn't real. This is just a 'nightmare' that she gave you." Frisk slowly nodded, smiling back at him as tears of joy began to form once more. "It's time to go home. Concentrate on me, Frisk. Focus on me. Focus on the fact that this is only a nightmare."

Frisk nodded, listening to Alex and closing her eyes, taking slow, deep breathes. When she opened her eyes, Alex was gone… and so were the flowers… and the Ruins. It was all replaced with darkness. Then, the world around Frisk flashed brightly and overwhelmed all of her senses.

Suddenly… Frisk woke up.

* * *

Frisk sat up suddenly, taking quick breaths in panic as her vision returned to her. She saw she was still in the skeleton's house. She saw her loving boyfriend holding her tightly and smiling warmly toward her, his face basically saying 'relief'.

"Shhh, shhhh, it's ok Frisk. Look at me. You're fine!" Frisk slowly calmed down and stared into Alex's eyes, smiling at him with relief of her own.

"A-Alex?" She asked before tackling him in a hug, laughing a bit as she was overwhelmed with joy. He was fine! Alex laughed too for a moment before he ended the hug, confusing Frisk for a moment. That is… until she saw the other figure in the room with them. Asgore still laid against the wall with pink, glowing eyes.

"Frisk… I think Betty did this to everyone…" Alex told her, "You were the first one I was able to wake up.

"H-how did you free me? Weren't you in a nightmare too, or did Betty miss you?"

Alex frowned for a moment. "I…" Tears began forming in his eyes, "I hurt you Frisk. I k-killed you…" Frisk shook her head before she reached in and kissed Alex for a moment, calming him down and silencing his thoughts for a moment.

"And in my dream, I hurt everyone. It was just a dream, right? We're ok." She said calmly, making Alex calm back down as well and smile back. After a moment, she continued, "So, how'd you get free? And how'd you help me?"

Alex nodded for a moment, smiling at Frisk. "Thanks Frisk. I… I don't think Betty has encountered Purity souls before. Once I was able to figure out it was a dream, I used my Purity soul to break free. Then, I used it on you to enter your nightmare and show you it wasn't real…" Alex paused for a moment.

"I think… I think Purity works both ways. It can easily take on other traits, but at the same time, it cannot be forced under a soul trait for too long…"

Alex stood up and lowered a hand toward Frisk, who took it and stood up beside Alex. "S-so we're gonna need to stop Betty before she hurts anyone else, right?"

Alex frowned a bit, "Yes, but we need to wake everyone else up first. I think… I think we should start with dad." He said, motioning towards Asgore. "When he's awake, he'll be able to warn others about Betty and track her down while we help everyone else." Frisk nodded in agreement.

"Wh-what can I do?" Frisk asked, knowing she didn't have the right magic to help wake someone up.

Alex walked over toward Asgore and knelt down beside him. He turned to Frisk before he began to try to wake up their dad. "Go make sure everyone else is ok. See if any of them are struggling or anything." Frisk nodded before she began to head towards the stairs to check on everyone.

All alone with Asgore, Alex began to concentrate on his soul power, forcing it to flow inside of Asgore. Feeling his consciousness begin to slip into Asgore's, he could only pray that his dad was ok…

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **I feel like this chapter is a bit uneven, so I'm sorry about that. Anyway, now that Alex and Frisk are awake, it's time to free everyone from their worst fears/ nightmares. I hope Betty was done good enough for all of you. Also, since some might not know this…**_

 _-I_ _DO NOT_ _own Betty. Betty is a character from_ _Camila Cuevas' Glitchtale_ _, which is not me or mine. This version of Betty is also a bit different than the Glitchtale version. Finally, I wrote this, and do not claim to own anything other than my original characters and the plot/story that I wrote. If you like Betty, the soul of Fear, than please go show Camila Cuevas some love and support, because her Glitchtale stuff is freakin' awesome!_

 _ **Stay tuned for some more Nightmares, starting with the King of the Monsters. Hope you enjoyed, and see you all later!**_

 _ **And, as a final note, I'm feeling really generous right now, so I'll probably do four chapters this week, including this one. That way, you won't have to wait until next week for the arc to end.**_

 _ **-swrWriter**_


	23. Your Best Nightmare

Asgore busted down the door with no hesitation. The former king was determined to help his children, especially if they were in danger. He assumed the worst when Chara stopped speaking into the phone, so he donned his armor and summoned his trident as he entered the household. The king stared at Betty with her weapon drawn before Frisk, confirming they were, indeed, in trouble.

Before this other girl in pink could recover from her shock, he raised his trident and swung it at Betty, his eye glowing blue before he struck as he coated his weapon in light-blue magic. Betty was forced to remain in place while the blue weapon passed harmlessly over her, giving Asgore a chance to approach. As he got closer to the fiend, he sent a wave of fire magic at the girl. Hot enough to burn, but not hot enough to set the house ablaze, the flames flew towards the girl.

She jumped back and ran at him fearlessly, before swiping her arm in front of her, sending a pink magical wave of energy at the king, forcing both of his eyes to glow pink for a moment. However, the old king was more powerful than she could anticipate.

He shuddered a bit, shaking off the pink magic effortlessly before he swung the flat of the trident against the human's side, sending her flying through the air and leaving a hole in the wall as she arrived outside in the front lawn. He promptly exited the house after her, not letting the fiend stay out of sight.

As she was struggling to get up, off of the grass, the King approached, weapon lowered towards her. He was ready to kill her in an instant for harming his family… but he never wanted to kill anyone. He was hoping that he could convince her to stop.

He spoke in his deep voice, "Why? Why, young one, are you trying to hurt them?"

She coughed, sending several drops of blood into the grass beneath her as she slowly got up. Once Asgore could see her face, he noticed the huge, crazed grin on her face as she giggled.

"Hehehehe~ But your majesty, do I need a reason to kill them? After all… did you have a personal reason to kill those other six children?"

Asgore took a small step back as his eyes widened. He never truly wished for those kids to die. It was a version of himself he tried desperately to forget about. A version of himself who was filled with grief and anger… but… that wasn't who he was anymore.

He regained his composure quickly, aiming his trident at Betty with one outstretched arm, "I have since repented of my deeds. You, however, have not. I am sorry for killing those kids, but I see no regret in your eyes." Betty just smiled and giggled at Asgore, as if he had just told her a joke. He looked at her in a confused manner before her form began to shimmer and glow…

...Now… there were nine of her…

 **[Cue: Bergentruckung/ Asgore]**

All nine of the giggled, creating a symphony of girly, evil laughter echoing down the street and somehow filling the neighborhood. Asgore did not care that he was outnumbered. He simply tightened his grip on the trident before focusing on it in his outstretched hand. Suddenly, another trident appeared in his left paw, granting the boss monster two deadly weapons.

Normally, he would fight fairly. Normally, he would fight his opponent with honor. But no opponent he has faced had ever threatened his family like this before. As he grinned, both tridents in his paws, his right eye flashed orange while his left flashed blue. Following their master's orders, his right trident turned orange and his left turned blue as he swung both at the Bettys.

They giggled as several were able to dodge the attack completely. However, two of them were too close to the King, earning them fatal slash marks across their chest. Instead of blood, an odd pink substance leaked out of their wounds as they lay in the grass.

As Asgore's tridents returned to their normal red, the other seven Bettys counter attacked. Each drew a pink spear as they threw them at the King. The King, against their expectations, dodged several of them, parrying the rest of them with ease. They all gasped in shock at the display. After all… not many have faced a Boss Monster in battle and lived to tell about it, and far less have survived a battle when the boss' family was at stake.

Asgore took his secondary trident and thrust it forward quickly, allowing it to fly through the air and hit one of the Bettys in the chest, impaling her with all three points. The momentum sent this Betty into the wall of Gaster's house, pinning her against it by the trident as more pink liquid leaked from her. 'The pink liquid must signify that they were not the real, original human!', Asgore thought as he turned back toward the remaining six.

Despite losing three versions of her, the pink humans giggled at the king, as if it were all a joke. They all summoned another round of pink spears before charging at the King at full speed. This time, however, Asgore opted to use his magic against them. He summoned a wall of flames before him, catching the humans off guard. The leading three humans hit the wall and screamed in pain as they collapsed. After retracting the wall, Asgore saw the carnage. Laying in the grass before him were three, unmoving and burnt humans, all wearing the same sweater and leaking pink liquid.

Now, it was three on one. Asgore summoned a third trident, now back to one in each paw. Before the humans could counterattack, Asgore sent his two tridents into two of them, impaling them before impaling into the ground beneath him, leaving two more humans leaking the odd pink liquid and dying on the street before him. With one left, the real and original one, Asgore reachout out with his right paw and picked them up tightly by the throat. She struggled to get out of the hold, but Asgore held her firmly. He began to pant a little bit, trying to catch his breath now that the fight was over. However… Betty, the human in his paw, began to giggle madly. Asgore looked at her with anger and confusion mixed together.

 **[Cue end of music]**

"You sick human, what is so funny?" Asgore asked impatiently, not getting whatever joke she thought was there.

She giggled a bit more before looking around at the fallen human forms around her. "Hehehehe~. I-I thought you said you changed? Hehehehehee~"

Asgore looked around him to see what she meant before he froze in place as his heart stopped.

All around him, the dead 'fake' humans were not fake humans at all. Laying there, in the grass and against Gaster's house were six other human children, the pink liquid now blood red. Each of them wore a different color, reminding him of… of… the other six fallen children that he… he had slain…

As tears began forming in his eyes, he turned his attention back to the human, which he gripped tighter, to find her gone. Instead, he was holding Chara's throat, choking her. In shock, he released Chara as she fell to the ground crying. Beside her lay Alex and Frisk, impaled by Asgore's final two tridents. Their fresh blood continued to flow out of their lifeless forms as their souls appeared before Asgore… before they shattered, making Asgore fall to his knees.

Chara's tear-stained face looked up at Asgore with horror, "I… I thought y-you were c-coming to h-help us?" She asked through her tears. Asgore could only stare at his child with wide eyes and an open muzzle. He gently reached out to comfort Chara before she flinched and fell back, away from him.

"D-d-don't t-touch m-me! Y-you MURDERER!" She screamed at him. People now began to come out of their houses in the neighborhood to observed what was making all of the noise and light. Everyone paused upon seeing the carnage caused by Asgore, making Asgore look down in shame, gently reaching down to touch Alex and Frisk's bodies.

"Ch-Chara, I…" Asgore tried. As his will weakened, all of his magic drained away, forcing all of his weapons to dissipate. Asgore remained on the ground, waiting for someone to kill him for his crimes. Suddenly, Alex's body moved on it's own a bit, despite the large wounds on his chest. He looked up at his father with relief, which confused him while also relieving him as well.

"A-Alex?" Asgore asked in disbelief.

"D-Dad? Are you ok?" Alex asked back, making Asgore sadly chuckle a bit. The king shook his head, "No, I'm afraid not…" He looked down in shame as Chara screamed out behind him, once again calling him a murderer and making the monster flinch.

Alex sat up a bit despite his wounds and reached out to hold his father's paw, which was much bigger than his hand. "Dad…" Asgore looked at Alex in shame, "This isn't real."

Asgore was confused, looking around to confirm that this was, indeed real. Alex squeezed his paw to regain his attention. "Wasn't Frisk inside? Where'd Betty go? And how did the other kids get here?" Alex asked, making Asgore straighten his posture. Alex was right. A lot of this didn't make much logical sense.

"Just focus on me, dad. Remember what you told Chara?"

Asgore nodded, slowly trying to calm himself down. He smiled weakly, "Stay Determined." Then, the world began to shift and fall away around Asgore. The bodies, Chara, the other people, Alex… all gone and replaced with darkness. Soon enough the king, too, was enveloped in darkness, before the world flashed around him and flooded his sense. It was then…

Asgore woke up.

* * *

Asgore'e eyes darted around the room as his vision returned. He looked toward the front door, finding it still wide open, but the hole from the nightmare was gone. He saw Alex sitting beside him, holding his paw, smiling up at him. "Alex?"

Alex jumped with joy and jumped into Asgore's arms, hugging him as best as he could. The king chuckled and hugged his son back. "Are you ok Alex?"

Alex looked up at him and smiled, "Yeah dad, I am now!" Asgore chuckled and climbed to his feet, ruffling Alex's hair in the process. That's when he noticed Alex's weird outfit.

"Umm, son?" He motioned towards Alex's fashion choices, making his son blush and look away in shame.

"M-my clothes were ruined as a prank. This is all they had for me to wear." Alex stated, making Asgore sigh before smiling at him.

"Well, at least you're alright." He looked up toward the stairs for a moment, "Where's Chara and Frisk, and everyone else?" Alex looked away for a moment.

"That girl in pink, Betty, she put everyone into some kind of nightmare. I woke up by myself and helped you and Frisk." Asgore nodded.

"So, do you know what this Betty wants?" Asgore asked, reclaiming his trident from the ground beside them.

Alex stroked his chin for a moment, "When she was over here, she mentioned that her world had a Frisk trying to kill her and her friend 'Kumu'. Maybe she's trying to bring Kumu here?"

Asgore hardened himself and looked down at Alex with a bit of anger in his eyes, but it wasn't aimed toward him, "If this 'Kumu' is anything like her, we'd be in trouble." He motioned towards the stairs, "Why don't we go upstairs to help everyone else?"

Alex shook his head, "No d-dad. I c-can handle it. You should warn everyone about her, and maybe go check on Gaster. If she want's to save Kumu, she'd need his QMA to open the portal." Asgore hesitated for a moment, not wishing to abandon his family while they were in need.

"Dad, please! If we don't hurry, others could die! We need to stop her before she hurts anyone else." Asgore finally nodded in agreement.

"Alright. But I want you to call if you so much as think she might be nearby, understand?" Asgore demanded. Alex nodded easily, making Asgore smile. "Alright, I will start making some phone calls and make my way to the lab. Be careful Alex!" As soon as he wished his father safty and he left, Frisk ran downstairs in fright.

"A-Alex!" Alex turned to her as she ran into him and wrapped him in a tight hug.

"I just helped dad… What happened?" He asked her as she shook.

"I-I was ch-checking on everyone, b-but Verdana's blaster was trying to kill me when I g-got close!" She said into the shirt he was wearing. He frowned at the mention of the blaster. After a moment, Alex pulled Frisk slightly away from himself as he looked into her eyes.

"Don't worry. I'm sure together we can get in there!" Frisk nodded before they went up the staircase and down the hall towards Verdana's room. Alex motioned for Frisk to wait outside for a moment before he opened the door slowly, turned on her light, and walked inside.

On the bed lay Verdana, her pupils in her eye sockets were glowing bright pink as she was locked into her own nightmare. Unfortunately, before he could attempt to get any closer, Verdana's blaster appeared.

The blaster was a bit different. It was a little bigger, had pink around it's eyes as well, and had a second, smaller, set of horns under the first. It opened it's mouth, and instead of energy gathering into a ball, it gathered in a spiral.

Alex began to internally panic a bit, quickly causing him to extend both hands in front of him towards the blaster. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy there little blaster-thing. I'm here to help!" Alex tried, hoping that Verdana, or something, heard him.

The pink around the blasters eyes flickered, before the whine of it charging ended… the spiral laser flying towards him. Alex quickly tried to roll to the side, but wasn't fast enough. The edge of the spiral grazed his right arm and leg, causing burns to begin to form on them. He yelled out in pain and he clutched his arm while lying on his side. "Dammit! Ahhhhhh!" He complained before trying to get back up to his feet, succeeding in doing so after a moment. He narrowed his pain-filled eyes at the blaster.

"Listen here, you stupid hunk of magic essence! I'm trying to help!" He yelled in anger at the blaster, not entirely sure if it understood him, but he didn't really care.

Unfortunately, this only seemed to anger it. Red gathered in it's eyes for a second… before a snapping was heard, the pink in it's eyes shattering. The blaster seemed to blink, looking around in confusion. Alex internally cheered a bit when he saw the pink fade, yet he still wasn't exactly happy.

He held his left arm as he took a step closer, "You done firing at me, or are we gonna have to go for round two?" Alex asked, not at all trying to hide his anger as he stared down the blaster. The blasters top horns glew green, and instead of a beam, a gentle mist shot at Alex, patching his arm and leg up. He sighed in relief as the pain was washed away. After a moment he looked back at the blaster, "Wait, are you alive or something?" Alex asked, looking at the blaster warily, having noticed that it seemed to understand his insult earlier.

It was silent, instead floating over Verdana looking concerned. Then, something clicked. "Wait a moment." He extended his arm and pointed at the blaster, "You're the one who ruined my stuff, not Verd!" He yelled, accusing the blaster as he walked closer to both it and Verdana's sleeping form.

The blaster gave him a look that practically screamed 'this is not the time for this'. Alex sighed and looked down at Verdana. He concentrated and summoned his soul forward, hovering in front of his chest. He looked at the blaster.

"Alright blaster-guy-thing, I'm gonna go in and wake up Verdana. I'd really appreciate it if I'm not covered in burns or paint while I'm in there, ok?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at it for a moment.

The blaster nodded. No burns or paint. Alex keep his eyes narrowed at the blaster for a moment longer before turning back toward Verdana. He felt the Pure magic flowing through his body as he reached down and held Verdana's hand in his own. As the magic began to flow into Verdana, Alex spared one final look of distrust at the blaster before his mind was pulled into Verdana's nightmare.

* * *

The last thing Verdana remembers was a headache. It hurt. It really, really hurt, overwhelming most of her thought processes with pain. Then, she was given some medication and milk by Chara. And… and then… she must have passed out.

Now, she jumped up, out of her bed and onto the floor, her chest feeling hot and burning for some reason. When she looked around in her panic, she realized she wasn't on her floor, and she hadn't just gotten out of bed. In fact, there was nothing around her. Just Void. Nothingness. She was all alone.

"D-daddy? S-sans? P-pap?" She called in the void as she looked around, whimpering in fear.

The void responded with unnatural silence. Neither of the other skeletons were anywhere to be seen. In fact, when she looked down, she also noticed something else. Her blaster was missing.

Panicking, she tried to summon her magic, trying to summon the blaster. Nothing happened. Not even as much as a sparkle or speck of dust was formed from her attempt at magic. This time, however, there was a response from the void. All around Verdana, she heard the sound of a girl giggling.

"H-hello? W-who's there?" Verdana asked as she looked around. The giggling rung out a bit louder this time, a bit closer to her too. Suddenly, Verdana felt a presence behind her. Verdana spun around to look behind her. Standing before her was Betty, the girl in pink that she met downstairs earlier. When Verdana looked at her, she giggled again.

"B-betty? W-where are we?" Verdana asked, looking around because she didn't think the pinkette was the cause of this.

She looked around in mock confusion as well for a moment. "I'm not sure… I didn't see anyone else around here either." She stopped for a moment before she added, "...except… I think I saw Chara earlier…"

Verdana perked up a little bit. "W-where?!" Verdana asked.

Betty looked away from Verdana for a moment, "W-well, I heard a portal open earlier f-from Gaster. And he c-could only hold it open for one person… and Chara choose to leave you behind and go home…" Betty finished explaining, "S-so, w-we're all alone now…"

Verdana looked devastated. "W-what?" she asked, wide socketed.

Betty shrugged, "She said n-nothing was more important than her family… not even you." Verdana, hearing this, sobbed, tears starting to stream down her skull. Betty made no attempt to comfort the small monster as she wept, choosing instead to stand there a moment before speaking.

"Well… that's not entirely true… when I said we're alone… I meant you…" Betty told her, vanishing from her spot. Verdana only sobbed more at this, falling to her knees and putting her hands in her face.

Suddenly, a bright flash appeared in the dark void right in front of Verdana's crying form. As she laid there, crying, she heard a voice she was really familiar with. "V-Verdana?" Alex asked. Verdana's skull shot up, and she saw him. She didn't know if he was real, or would vanish, but she lept at him, hugging him and sobbing more. Alex smiled gently at her before wrapping his arms around Verdana too.

He rubbed her back gently to comfort her, "Shhh, it's ok Verd. You're ok." He spoke calmly to her, trying to reassure her that he was, in fact, real.

"E-everyone's g-gone," She sobbed. Alex gently grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back a bit to look into her eye sockets. Determination was in his eyes.

"Look at me Verdana. This isn't real." He told her, maintaining eye contact with her as he spoke.

"W-what?" She asked.

He nodded, "Can't you tell when people are lying? Look at me, I'm telling you the truth. Betty did this to you… to all of us… but you have to wake up now."

"...Bet **ty di** d th **i** s?" Verdana asked. "To **all** of us?" Alex could see the hate quickly forming in her eyes, making him start to panic a bit internally.

"Verdana, look at me." Alex said as calmly as he could, "We cannot do anything to her while we're here. Calm down so I can wake you up, please…" He asked, still holding the skeleton gently and looking deeply into her eye sockets.

The skeleton nodded, taking deep breaths and trying to calm down, eventually doing so. Alex gently smiled at her. "Alright. Focus on me, alright? Focus…" Alex told her softly. She nodded, and focused on him completely. It'd be easier if he was Chara. After a moment, Alex vanished from sight as the void around her twisted. The world around Verdana flashed and overwhelmed her senses before she, too, woke up.

* * *

Verdana sat up in her bed after awakening, quickly noticing Alex holding her hand beside her and Frisk watching the two of them from a few feet away. Alex began looking over his body, checking for any signs of foreign material that was not present before he entered the room. Nearby floated Verdana's blaster.

Something Alex noticed a second later was that he was very muddy, and somehow Verdanas clothes were spotless. Surprising Verdana, Alex took the nearest object to him and threw it at her blaster, bonking it right between its eyes.

Deciding to question it later, Verdana remembered why she was getting mad. " **W** here' **s** **Be** tty?" The skeleton asked.

Alex stood up fully and looked at Verdana, "We have Asgore and a few others searching for her, but we have something more pressing for us to take care of first." Alex said, trying to appease the skeleton.

Verdana looked at him with a tilted head, staying quiet. What was it? Alex opened the door of her room and led Verdana down the hall to the bathroom nearby, Frisk following close by too. Inside, laid Chara, Asriel, and Sans, all with glowing pink eyes and trapped in their own nightmares.

The little skeleton ran to Chara and Sans, shaking the two. Frisk ran over to her side to comfort Verdana, whispering to her, "They're trapped, like we were…" Alex walked over between all of them, trying to figure out who to wake up next. It honestly felt like it was taking too long… suddenly, Alex got an idea. He looked at Frisk and Verdana.

"Alright, so we've figured out that my Pure soul can disrupt the nightmares enough to allow someone to wake up, but they still have to realize that it's not real… So what if I send each of us into one of them to help them?" He looked to see their responses, Frisk perking up a bit with hope.

Verdana nodded eagerly. Alex smiled and nodded, "Alright. Who should go with who? I'm fine with any of them." Frisk shrugged as well, looking at Verdana to see her preference. Verdana stayed on Chara. Alex nodded, looking at Frisk. "Frisk, why don't you go to Asriel? I'll take Sans." She nodded.

Alex went over to sit by Sans while Frisk did the same for Asriel. Alex reached a hand out into the middle and joined it with Frisk's and Verdana's. He looked at both Frisk and Verdana, "Alright, remember: Nothing in there is real, no matter how terrifying or real it seems, it's only a nightmare."

"Just a nightmare," Verdana said, nodding. She was Determined. Alex closed his eyes and took in a deep breath before he summoned forth his soul. The Pure energy flowed into both Verdana and Frisk before then flowing into the three asleep people. All three of them lost consciousness as they drifted into their respective minds to wake them up.

* * *

Asriel laid upon a pile of golden flowers under a ray of sunshine. He recognized this spot, this was where Chara had fallen all of those years ago. This was where he and Chara used to play before… before they both died. He sat there, looking up at the light for a few more minutes. It was really peaceful… tranquil even. Unfortunately, his time for relaxation came to an end abruptly when some spoke.

 **[Cue: Your Best Friend]**

"Howdy." The tiny voice spoke from beside him. Asriel, unfortunately, recognized that voice. He shot back in surprise, sitting up and jumping to his feet to see the origin of the voice. His vision centered on a small Flower, smiling widely at the young boss monster.

"Wh-what?!" Asriel asked in confusion, staring in horror at the flower, "W-who are y-you?!"

The flower smiled a bit wider, tilting his bulb to the side. "What's wrong Azzy? Forget me already?"

The monster shook his head wildly, "Th-this is i-impossible. B-but I'm me? Wh-who are you?"

The smiling flower continued to look at Asriel, "I'm you, dummy! Or have you forgotten?"

Asriel backed away from the pile of flowers now, inching closer to the entrance to the ruins. "N-no, you're not! I'm not a s-souless freak wh-who takes pleasure in other's suffering!"

Flowey disappeared from view before exiting the ground and popping back up in front of Asriel, "But you were. We're the same, you and I. It's just that you're in denial." Asriel fell onto his butt and he tried to inch further away.

"Go away, y-you stupid flower! I've ch-changed?"

"Teeheehee~ What do you mean, Azzy? We're the same. We both love Chara like a sister, we both were disappointed and saddened when mom and dad split up… if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're the fake!" The flower told him, smiling still. After a moment, the flower pointed to Asriel's chest, "And… we're both soulless!"

This caused a bit of panic for Asriel, making him turn around and run toward the Ruins. He stopped short of the doorway, noticing that it was covered and blocked off with thorn-covered vines. He began to panic now as he turned back around to look at the flower.

 **[Cue end of music]**

As he turned around, he felt countless vines shoot out from the floor and curl around him tightly, holding him in place before turning him completely around to face Flowey. Flowey smiled at him with a horrific smile, losing all innocence and kindness now.

"HAHAHAHAHA. You're so pathetic Asriel. Such a crybaby. Such an idiot. We had the power to control the universe. We could've brought Chara back early, but NoOoOoOoOoOo, you were too weak to stop Frisk and Alex. Your stupid kindness ruined us and our power!" Flowey yelled at him. Asriel struggled against the vines, failing to break free.

Flowey smiled at his sad attempts at escape, "But… I can fix this. I can give us back our power. The power to control the timeline. The power of a god!" Flowey smirked as he brought four vines forward from behind him, which Asriel didn't notice before. Asriel's eyes widened in horror as he saw what was being held by those vines.

One held Frisk, another held Alex, the third held Chara, and the final one held Isabel, each of them struggled to get free from Flowey's grasp. He frowned for a moment when he spoke to Asriel, "Unfortunately, this is only four souls… but it'll be enough to give us most of our power back AND enough Determination to take control of the timeline again!" He smiled maniacally toward Asriel. "So, who should I kill first?!"

Asriel remained in shock, unable to answer the flower's question. The Flower made a motion similar to shrugging before appearing beside Alex's vine. "Howdy Alex. Golly, it looks like you might die!" Alex spat at Flowey, which he easily dodged. Flowey turned toward Asriel, smirking once more.

"This idiot embarresses you in public during the dance. He chooses for you to regain a soul first, abandoning Chara. He's lied to you over and over again. And worst of all, if it weren't for him, Frisk would have died and WE would have gotten control of the timeline again." He turned towards Alex and smirked at him. "And for that, you will DIE!"

Flowey began his demonic laugh as another vine burst forward from Alex's chest, holding his soul on the end of it. The vine was now soaked in Alex's blood as it held his silver soul. Alex's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he died, allowing Flowey to easily absorb his soul, Chara, Frisk, Isabel, and Asriel all cried out at once, screaming at Flowey.

Tears began flowing down Asriel's face at the loss of his brother. Flowey chuckled a bit more, "MMmmm, this feels nice. No wonder you were happy to get your soul first. Oh well, one down… three to go…" Flowey disappeared once more before reappearing beside Chara.

"Howdy Chara. Golly, it's been so long. Don't you remember me? Your best friend!" Chara struggled to get at the weed, but was restrained easily. Flowey shook his bulb, "Tsk, tsk, tsk Chara." Flowey turned toward Asriel again.

"Chara, our best friend, was responsible for our death Asriel. Her stupid plan involved killing herself before ultimately killing you. She didn't care about how you felt! Your feelings were irrelevant when compared to her 'magnificent plan'. And, worst of all, she abandoned you for Verdana, completely abandoning her 'best friend'."

Before Asriel could protest, another vine ruptured her chest, pushing out her red soul towards Flowey and killing her instantly. Flowey laughed maniacally as he absorbed it, now with two human souls. "Good riddance, traitor." Asriel cried out and tried to reach out towards Chara, but he arms were immediately restrained and forced back to his side. "Don't worry Azzy, we're halfway there." He disappeared and appeared next to Isabel.

"Howdy Isabel. You're just a pretty as Asriel said you were!" Flowey said with a sick smile on his face. He looked at Asriel, "You know, I don't recall her ever doing anything wrong… but neither did the kids dad killed. Plus, with the power of a god, we could just bring her back anyway… so…" Isabel's eyes widened in horror and looked ot Asriel in fear.

"A-azz?!" She yelled for him before she, too, was killed by one of Flowey's vines, which held a glowing green soul.

"Golly Azzy, now we know why she was so nice!" Flowey taunted, absorbing her soul as Asriel sobbed uncontrollably. He was weeping at their deaths, unable to stay strong now that they were all dead. After a moment, a vine gently lifted Asriel's chin.

"C'mon Azzy, we still have one more to go…" Flowey told him before appearing right next to Frisk. "Ahh, Frisk… The one who took our power from us. The one who hid that traitor from us. The one who, much like Chara, abandoned you for love. And we thought they were better than Chara. Pfffttt! What a joke!" As Flowey spoke, a bright flash came from Frisk, catching both of them off guard.

Frisk's horror filled eyes changed to be more calm. That is, until she noticed where she was, looking around in horror for a moment before seeing Flowey and Asriel. "Ahh, Howdy Frisk, welcome back!" Before Flowey could prepare to kill Frisk, she focused on her soul and sent out a burst of magic, snapping the vines around her, including the ones holding Asriel and Flowey.

Flowey fell through the air before Frisk caught him, preventing him from returning to the ground and growing more vines. He screamed in anger at Frisk before she threw him to the side and ran over to Asriel.

"A-Asriel, a-are you o-ok?" She asked, holding him and wrapping him up in a tight embrace. He looked up in a combination of excitement and confusion before frowning.

"N-not really…" Frisk shook her head at him while looking into his eyes.

"Asriel, I need you to wake up. This isn't real, it's all just a nightmare?"

Asriel couldn't help the small smile forming on his face, "N-not r-real? Y-you mean Chara and Alex and Isabel are all alive?"

Frisk smiled warmly and nodded, "Yes. We need you to wake up now. Focus on me and Chara. Focus on the real world!" Asriel nodded and closed his eyes as the landscape around him faded, leaving behind only darkness. A moment longer, his vision went completely black before the world flashed and overwhelmed him.

Asriel woke up…

* * *

Chara's head was pounding. What happened? She looked down and opened her eyes to find herself laying on a pile of rocks. Actually… looking closer, the rocks looked like rubble from a house or something. She forced herself to her feet and looked around to figure out where she was. She was certainly not at Verdana's house now…

Wait… yes she was!

She looked down in a panic to see that she was, indeed, in the rubble and ruins of the skeleton's house on the surface. She looked up into the blood-red sky to see the heavy cloud cover, yet it wasn't dark out at all. In fact, looking around, she noticed most other houses and buildings around her were either in ruins or on fire, most were both. She looked around for any signs of the skeletons or Verdana, but found nothing.

After spending a few moments in the ruins, she exited the now-single-story house and entered the street. Of in the distance, there was a large figure setting other buildings aflame with magic. Against her better judgement, she began to approach the figure, soon recognizing who it was.

Now, much closer to the monster, she noticed his white fur, his colorful and glowing wings, and the black marks going down his face. This was Asriel… with seven souls…

Chara saw what he was doing, and looked on at the display in horror. As he burned down the buildings, humans would run out of their homes in an attempt to escape with their lives. Before they could get more than ten feet from their doorways or windows, Asriel would use his Chaos Buster to vaporize the humans instantly, leaving their souls intact before they broke as well.

She felt both horror and anger build up inside of her before she shouted, "ASRIEL!"

Asriel ignored her as he continued to destroy the humans and their houses, leaving Chara to watch the display in horror. She did not completely understand what was going on with him or why he was doing this. After a moment, someone cleared their throat behind her. Chara spun around quickly to look at this individual before gasping.

The figure smiled innocently, "Greetings. I am Chara." She said, smiling at Chara. She wore Chara's signature brown paints and green sweater, matching Chara's current outfit and making the two of them identical. Chara took a step back, maintaining eye contact with her double.

"Wh-who… What?!" She barely managed in her confusion.

The doppelganger smiled and giggled a bit before responding, "I'm the real you." She motioned towards Asriel for a moment, making Chara turn to look back at him. As she looked for whatever her double was motioning toward, she arrived right next to Chara and threw an arm around her. "Isn't it beautiful?" Her double asked. Chara just looked at her in confusion and horror, shaking her head.

The other smiled, "Our plan succeeded. Asriel gave in and helped take the other six souls we needed." Chara looked to the other version of herself before looking at Mt. Ebott in the distance. Her double seemed to know what she was wondering about. "We haven't broken the barrier yet. It wouldn't make much sense… knowing what humanity is capable of… we have to exterminate them all first…" Chara threw her double's arm off her her, taking a few steps away.

Chara shook her head, "Th-this is wrong!" She was horrified by all of this. Is this really what would have happened if her and Asriel's plan had worked? She was appalled, especially after everything that she's been through.

The other Chara before her giggled again, "What's wrong Chara? Wasn't this the plan? Destroy humanity and give the monsters back the surface world? This is what we wanted!"

Chara shook her head and shouted at the doppelganger, "N-no! I've ch-changed. I was too o-overcome with my hatred for humanity b-back then!"

The other shook her head and smiled, "What are you talking about? We're the same. You haven't changed. Don't you remember?"

The copy's eyes went black and began to leak tar as she held a evil smirk, "We are Chara, the demon that comes when people call its name." The other began to shake her head, "It doesn't matter when. It doesn't matter where. Time after time, I will appear." She took a step closer to Chara, who fell to her knees. The double continued talking and smiled, "And, with your help. We will eradicate the enemy and become strong." The double dropped the Real Knife onto the floor, landing between Chara's hands.

Chara felt tears begin to form in her eyes as she looked up to her smiling double, "This is who we are, Chara. Nothing can change that. Don't you remember? We are the hope of the Underground. For the future of Humanity and Monsters."

Chara did not respond, only staring at her double. "Don't you remember the evils of Humanity? The bloodshed? The war? The violence? The distrust? The anger? The evil?!" Chara's double laughed for a moment, "No. Of course not. How could you forget the horrors?!" Chara looked down and stared at the knife for a moment. Neither of them noticed the flash in the distance.

After a moment of silence, her double gently reached down and grabbed Chara's chin, lifting it up to look in her eyes. "We can fix this though. We can destroy Humanity before they destroy themselves and Monsters. Then, we can free the monsters and give them back what they deserve…"

Chara tried to speak, "V-Verd…" The other smiled a bit wider at hearing that.

"She'd be so proud of us, preventing this evil. We can go get her first… but first… you must pick up the Real Knife… and be yourself…" Chara began shaking a bit. Was this really who she was? She stared at the Real Knife for a moment longer before slowly moving her hands towards the hilt of the blade. However, before she made it…

"Chara!" Verdana shouted as she ran, tackling the real one. Chara snaped out of her daze for a moment to look at Verdana in confusion. The other version of Chara wasted no time.

"She's not real, Chara. Just a trick. How could she have gotten here without a human soul?" Chara looked away from Verdana for a moment to look at her doppelganger, who nodded. "She's a fake."

"No, s-she's the Fake, Chara! B-betty put you in a nightmare!" The skeleton girl said, latching onto the real Chara. Chara was being torn now, wanting to believe Verdana. Everything around her felt so wrong.

"V-Verd?" Char mumbled, wrapping her arms around her. The doppelganger only got angrier.

"It's just a trick. Use the knife." She pointed towards the knife beside Chara, "It's the only way to remove the illusion!"

Verdana looked at the knife, then at Chara, then at the fake, before making sure the real one saw a wink. "D-don't hurt me!" She whimpered. Chara reached over and grabbed the knife in her right hand and held it tightly for a moment before taking in a deep breath. The doppelganger smiled. She closed her eyes and moved her arm in a quick motion… sending the blade flying threw the air in hitting the other Chara in the heart.

The doppelganger looked down in shock as the green sweater quickly began turning red. Losing strength, she fell to her knees, continuing to stare at the two of them. "Y-you continue t-to buy into this lie? Th-that you've changed? That y-your not l-like that an-anymore?!" The other took a shallow breath, "Y-you just proved th-the opposite. There is n-no changing us…" She looked up to the sky and scream, "AZZY!"

The monstrous form of Asriel turned to see the other Chara slump over and die, the True Knife sticking out of her chest. In rage, he sends a massive wave of rainbow comets at the two of them.

Verdanas sockets widened. Quickly, she tried to summon some green blasters, to block the barrage. Somehow, the blasters seemed to work, appearing and managing to shield the two from the attack. The produced shield collapsed as soon as the attack ended, being massively overpowered by the god of hyperdeath. Luckily, a large cloud of dust and dirt form to cover them from Asriel's sight.

After taking a moment to catch her breath, Chara looked at Verdana, sadness and fear flooding her eyes. "That other me was right… I'm just a demon…" Chara said sadly, looking away from Verdana in shame.

"No!" Verdana denied, shaking her skull. "You're not a demon! This is a _dream_ , a _nightmare!_ " Verdana said again, hugging Chara.

"None of it is real," The skeleton whispered. Chara looked at her with confusion but hugged her back.

"I… I don't understand…" Chara finally admitted, whispering to Verdana.

"Betty put us in a illusion, a nightmare. You just need to realise this to wake up," Verdana said back, nuzzling Chara. "P-please wake up…" Chara nodded and closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath.

"Thanks Verd… I love you…" Chara said. She focused and felt the world begin to vanish around her. The rubble beneath her and the dust in the air vanished as the colors faded to darkness. After a moment, the world flashed around her, forcing her to open her eyes.

Chara woke up…

* * *

Sans was grabbing the medicine from the cabinet for Verdana. Sure, he was a little too short to reach it, but it didn't really matter to him. He smiled to himself and used his magic to float the bottle down to him. He continued to grin, speaking to himself, " _looks like that tall issue was solved shortly."_ He chuckled to himself despite no one hearing his joke and it being pretty awful.

Satisfied with the item in his hand, he put both hands into his pockets before he exited the bathroom and went back downstairs. No one was talking, it was almost completely silent, which unnerved him a bit. Verdana and Chara were still sitting next to each other, and Betty, Alex, and Asriel were all sitting in their normal spots, but Frisk was now sitting alone on the couch, smiling for some reason.

Unfortunately, Sans quickly figured out what they were smiling about. Before Frisk laid the golden 'TRUE RESET' button. Sans' smile vanished instantaneously. He dropped the bottle of pills, getting everyone's attention. His pupils darkened and his voice lost all hints of humor.

" _ **kid… what are you doing?"**_

Frisk looked up at him with no fear or confusion or regret in her eyes. Only… Determination… This only made Sans even more upset. Frisk's smile turning neutral before she spoke, "It's been so long since I was in the Underground, I was kinda thinking I'd do it again…" She stated, as if no one else's opinion on the matter was important or valid.

" _ **frisk... i thought you promised me there'd be no more resets?"**_

Frisk shrugged, "Well, unlike you, I don't find promises to be binding. More like… suggestions…" If it were possible for Sans' expression to appear more menacing, it did. Without hesitation, he pulled Frisk's soul forward and forced it blue, holding her in place before pushing her against the back of the couch.

" _ **pal, you better think long and hard about what you're doing. 'cause if you continue with this train of thought… you are going to have a bad time."**_

Frisk shrugged and smiled at him, "Meh, it's not like you'll remember a True Reset." Before Sans could stop her, she reached out and pressed the button, causing the world to be ripped away from Sans, leaving him in darkness. There goes all of his progress. There goes G, back to the void. There goes his chance at a happy ending. There goes Asriel and Chara, back to the dead. There goes… Wait, what happens if the world is reset and you're not from that world? He shuddered at the thought of Verdana/Rindie being dead.

When a small amount of light reappeared, it confirmed his greatest nightmare. He looked around and frowned at the interior of his room in Snowdin. Despite having reset to this point in time countless times because of the weed, this was the first time he'd made it to the surface with Frisk and woke up back here. Involuntarily, he let out a scream and fell onto the floor in a ball.

Everything. Everything that he had worked so hard for was taken from him in an instant. All from a kid on a whim, who cared nothing for the people, friends, and family around him. And… worst of all… he and the kid were the only ones who remembered…

As tears, for the first time in decades, began to fall from his sockets, he stared up at the ceiling, and cried. " _g-gaster… dad… i'm so sorry… i couldn't stop 'em…"_ He lost himself to his despair before he remembered the exact information he needed for Resets. Papyrus would come in any minute to yell at him for being lazy. He couldn't look like this for his brother…

Sans forced himself up and cleaned himself off, trying to look presentable. He, against everything in his bones telling him not to, began to follow 'the script' and got ready for yet another run through the underground. After a moment, as he donned his coat, the room flashed brightly, catching the skeleton off guard. This had never happened before…

Standing there now, in the center of Sans' room, stood Alex, smiling gently at Sans. Sans stared at him for a moment, unsure of what to do. Would Alex remember everything? Wait a moment, wasn't it Alex and Frisk, only, who remembered Frisk's Load? Perhaps he was immune to the resets as well. To test his theory, Sans spoke first.

" _sup kiddo."_ Sans said in a laidback voice, trying desperately to hide his anger towards Alex's friend and love, Frisk.

"Sans!" Alex said before jumping towards Sans and hugging him tightly. Sans looked down to see that Alex was still wearing those clothes that Verdana gave him. He couldn't help but chuckle, " _hey kid, you must've really liked that outfit."_ Alex shook his head before letting go. Sans looked at Alex with a bit of confusion for a moment, " _so, what's happening here?"_ He asked, hoping he wouldn't have to explain anything.

Alex looked at Sans questioningly, "What happened here?" Alex looked deep into Sans' sockets for a moment before speaking again, "That expression. That's the expression of someone who's hurting." Sans shrugged, " _when did you become so good at reading expressions?"_

Sans shook his head for a moment before speaking, " _do you not remember? frisk reset everything again…"_ His pupils disappeared again, making him look menacing, " _and you didn't do anything to stop her…"_

Alex shook his head, "This isn't real Sans. It's just a nightmare." He paused for a moment, "So no one tried to stop Frisk? Wouldn't I, or maybe Chara and Asriel, try to stop her if she did?" Sans' pupils returned as he stroked his chin in thought. The kid had a point. After all, he did recall that he read somewhere that dreams don't always HAVE TO make perfect sense.

Sans looked at Alex carefully, " _so, this is a dream? then how're you here? and what happened?"_

Alex frowned, "It was Betty. She put all of us into a nightmare, but I found a way to wake up. Now, I'm trying to wake you up." Sans nodded, " _how do we get outta here then?"_

Alex smiled warmly once more at Sans, "Focus on me. Remember that this isn't real. None of it is. We need you to wake up Sans…" Sans nodded as he did what he was told. After a moment, he felt himself slipping from the dream, being pulled from this nightmare.

The world faded around him before he, too, was overcome by the darkness. After a moment, his eye sockets widened as he woke up.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **Part two of the Betty Arc is now over. Next time, now that they're all awake, they'll need to figure out what comes next. Betty is still MIA, Asgore is trying to gather help, and the sleepover participants just finally escaped their nightmares. Let's see what comes next. If you enjoyed the story, feel free to favorite it, review it, send a PM, and tell all of your friends about it. See ya next time… which will probably be tomorrow.**_

 _ **-swrWriter**_

 _ **Awa**_ _ken..._


	24. Phobophobia

The six of them woke up almost in sync, all laying on the cold bathroom floor. The first thing that they noticed as they awoke was that they were, indeed, back in the real world. The second thing they all noticed was that they were not alone. Another figure stood in the doorway, watching the six of them sleep and wake up.

"Good morning." The voice said beside them, alerting them all to their presence. All of them, after their initial flinches and confusion, were confused, having never seen this new figure before. That is, except two of them. Alex tilted his head slightly to look at the figure.

"Hey. What's your name again? Core?" Alex asked with a smile. The monochromatic child before them shook his head at his questions.

"Frisk. Frisk is fine." They replied, making everyone stare at the child now. Sure enough, they looked very similar to the Frisk beside them. The differences being the loss of color, the loss of a few years of aging, and the loss of their eyes. Frisk turned towards her boyfriend in confusion, but Chara was the first one to snap.

"Alright, who the hell is this and what the hell is going on?" She asked loudly, making Core Frisk stare at her.

"That's kinda rude, Chara. I'm Frisk… just not your Frisk." The monochromatic child replied.

" _sorry to cut your repeated introduction short, but why are you here?"_ Sans asked, watching Core Frisk carefully. Core Frisk nodded and pointed a finger toward a spot beside Chara. That spot, currently, was occupied by Verdana.

"I've come because of Rindie… and Betty…" They spoke. Chara and Sans both looked at Verdana for a moment before they moved to get between her and the other Frisk. Verdana looked confused at the first name, tilting her head at the Frisk. Core sighed, "Right, right. You don't go by Rindie in this state…"

"What. The fuck. Are you talking about?!" Chara demanded, getting angrier at Core Frisk.

Core looked to the side, away from everyone, and spoke, "This timeline has gained far too much attention. You've gotten Rindie here to change the timeline with their presence. You've got Betty trying to bring Akumu here, which wouldn't be good for this world. And finally, you've managed to get Error's attention. Frankly, if you weren't in so much danger, I'd say that's pretty impressive." By now, everyone was standing and watching the kid closely.

"Stop calling her that! She's not Rindy or whatever you called her! She's Verdana!" Chara demanded. Core ignored the request and looked right at Verdana, looking her over as they seemed to be studying her.

"Impressive magic. Self-Amnesia, magical nullifiers, a personality shift… there was a lot of thought and design into this…" Core Frisk stated as they looked at her.

Verdana was very confused at this Frisk's accusations. She had no idea what the stranger was talking about in the least. Core looked at her for another moment, sensing her doubts, "Weren't you wondering why you gained a horrible headache after seeing Betty's soul?"

"Y-yeah…" Verdana said, waiting for Core to continue.

Core Frisk nodded, "That was your 'true self', or Rindie, trying to warm you of her danger." Core sighed for a moment, putting a hand on their face and shaking thier head before they spoke again, "I'm not here to ruin anything, I'm here to help you…"

Verdana looked nervous. "H-help… how?" She asked.

"Well, for starters, I'm here to inform you that Betty's in the Lab, trying to figure out how to work the QMA. She's currently unsuccessful, but she's getting closer…" Core told them.

Sans' sockets widened, " _what about g?"_

Core Frisk frowned, "He's in the lab too. He's been stuck in a nightmare since around when Betty first arrived here."

Frisk frowned for a moment, "B-but he was here when he showed us Betty and dropped her off."

Core Frisk shook their head, "No, that was one of Betty's illusions. She's quite good at them too." Sans looked like he was getting worried. Core Frisk sighed, "And while I hate to say this… Rindie's gonna have to be woken up."

Chara took a step closer to Core Frisk, getting right in their face, "So, let's just assume you're telling us the truth about Verdana… what happens to her if we wake up this 'other' person?"

Core Frisk, despite Chara's attempts to be intimidating, shrugged and spoke in a calm voice, "I'm not sure, and I apologize if she's gone, but you must remember… she does not belong here." Upon hearing this, Chara attempted to tackle Core Frisk into the ground and hold them there. Unfortunately, they vanished from sight before appearing a few feet away as Chara hit the floor hard.

Verdana, worried for her girlfriend, went to help Chara up. Core Frisk vanished again and stood between Verdana and Chara. They looked down at Chara and sighed, "I'm not your enemy Chara, I'm really not." Then Core Frisk looked up at Verdana, silently telling her to stop. After that, they looked at Sans, narrowing their own eye sockets towards the skeleton, "And you… you knew the truth about her. You knew she didn't belong here, yet you did nothing… just like Gaster."

Sans shrugged lazily, " _meh, takes too much effort to remove someone you care about from your universe."_ Core Frisk scowled at the lazy skeleton, making him chuckle.

Core shook their head, "Don't any of you understand? The more you mess with these timelines, the more danger you put yourself in! The longer…" Core pointed at Verdana, "...Rindie stays, the more likely that an enemy of theirs will find them and come here." Core paused for a moment, "And plus, don't you know about Rindie's LV and Hate? They've absorbed a multiverse full of it."

"W-what?" Verdana asked, sockets widening

Core Frisk nodded solemnly, "Yes. Though it wasn't their fault, and it was forced upon them, the fact remains that they hold the power to destroy everything here, and thousands of timelines, _universes,_ around here on a whim."

The skeleton looked down. "O-okay…" She said, closing her sockets. Chara, however, wasn't having any of it. Despite the previous failure, she leaped at the child once more, immediately hitting the wall instead with their head. Core Frisk now stood another few feet over, staring down at her as she held her head in pain.

Core narrowed their sockets, "Would you please stop doing that? You can't hurt me, I'm both incorporeal and omnipresent. You can neither hit me nor catch me by surprise. So, I suggest you either stop, or continue and risk earning a concussion for your efforts." Chara managed to tell Core Frisk to 'shut up' before she crawled over toward Verdana, once again between her and Core Frisk.

"Y-you c-can't do a-anything to h-her!" Chara told Core Frisk, guarding Verdana with her life. Alex, Asriel, and Frisk all ran over to get in between the two of them too, helping Chara with the guarding of Verdana.

Verdana vanished in a shortcut. The four children were caught by surprise by this, but Core just remained in place, not seeming to be surprised in the slightest. They narrowed their black, empty sockets at them.

"You see? Now I have to go after her." Core Frisk facepalmed themselves in frustration, "Why can't you just make this easy? You've seen when she loses control to Hate and LV! She could destroy the timeline like that, but if Rindie wakes up, they'll have control of themselves again."

Chara frowned anyway, "And why can't you understand that we don't want to lose Verdana?!"

Core shook their head and took a deep breath, despite the fact they didn't need to, "I don't think you understand. What do you think is going to happen when she gets to the lab, sees Gaster in a nightmare, and then sees Betty?" Sans visibly flinched, thinking about the amount of Hate that would form against Betty. Core nodded, knowing exactly what Sans was thinking, "She'd fully give into Hate and destroy Betty… along with the rest of this timeline and the surrounding couple hundred… and how do you think she'd then react when the Hate dies down and she realizes what she did to you?!" This finally got Chara's attention, making her eyes widen in horror.

Core nodded, "Well, I know where she is, so I'm gonna go try to talk with her again. And Chara…" Core added, regaining her attention. Core smiled gently for a moment, "There's a chance Verdana might split off from Rindie, allowing her to stay…" Before Core added anything else or Chara could respond, Core Frisk vanished from sight. It was silent in the bathroom for a moment, before Asriel turned around and looked at them all.

"Can someone PLEASE tell me what just happened?"

* * *

Core Frisk reappeared on the roof of the house in that same instant, just a few feet behind Verdana. The sky had cleared up considerably and the full moon was clearly visible as the night continued on. Verdana didn't realize she had company for a moment, before realizing it when Core Frisk spoke.

"Hello." They started, getting her attention.

"H-hey…" Verdana mumbled, not looking at them.

Core Frisk stepped forward, standing right beside Verdana but still looking forward, "Why up here?"

Verdana simply shrugged. "I… figured t-they wouldn't look here…" She said simply. "I'm… ready w-whenever you are."

Core Frisk nodded, looking out upon the landscape, "It's a beautiful evening… despite the dangers…" They turned toward her after a moment, "Are you sure you're ready? There's no real way to completely undo this."

The skeleton let out a breath. "Y-yeah… let's… g-get this over with..." She said. Core Frisk nodded and reached into one of their eye sockets for a moment, before pulling back out a small device that easily fit in their hand. It was a red, crystal orb, which appeared to closely resemble the Legendary Artifact. However, this one was slightly clear and had white streaks of color all over it.

"This is one version of the Legendary Artifact. This one, from a different timeline, undoes magic, rather than just simply transform it. It can break almost any magical spell, with the exception being soul magic and Void magic, making it useless against Betty and useless against me."

Verdana looked down. IF she was a spell… this would kill her, most likely. She nodded anyway. IF this helped her friends, her family… Then she would do it. Core Frisk frowned and looked at her again, holding the orb out towards her but not letting it touch her just yet. "Listen… Verdana… This is your final chance to back out… are you absolutely certain?"

The little skeleton only nodded again. Core Frisk nodded as well, "Alright. Then reach out and touch it, when you're ready." They told her, holding the orb in both hands before her. Verdana didn't look at it, reaching out and tapping the orb. It began to glow brightly before sending a pulse of magic into Verdana, forcing her hand back off of the orb in surprise. Core Frisk watched as the Legendary Artifact did it's work.

Verdana _screamed_ in pain as she felt her being, feeling her body breaking. As the spells hold on Rindie ended, their SOUL, the Black and White heart floated out of Verdanas chest. The heart glew, black and white energy coming out of it. It formed organs, muscles, bones, and finally, flesh. Clothes appeared soon after, appearing as Rindie equipped them.

Rindie opened their eyes, the left still a black void with a white dot and the right it's opposite. Rindie glanced back at Verdana, who was flaking, her form dusting. "Where are you going?" They asked emotionlessly. Shooting their right hand back, a white beam went out.

Verdanas dusting seemed to reverse as the beam healed her, stabilizing her form and her DETERMINATION, just to be sure. The entire ordeal occurred with no comments coming from Core Frisk as they watched, putting the orb away quickly, back into their eye socket.

"Welcome back Rindie." Core Frisk said without enthusiasm. They looked at Verdana's shaking form, "I see Verdana's still alive…" They also commented.

"I don't kill the hosts I make. You should know that, Core." Rindie said simply.

Core Frisk shrugged, "I never said you did. But, this IS the first time I've forced you to reawaken…" Core Frisk said, eyeing Rindie closely. They and Rindie… didn't exactly get along with each other very well.

"Whatever. So why'd you wake me up again?" Rindie asked as they picked the asleep Verdana up bridal style.

Core scowled at Rindie, "Well, I've never observed your 'hosts' releasing your Hate and LV like she did. It was making the timelines unstable…"

Rindie sighed at this. "You know how… weird my everything reacts. The last time my anything made a timeline 'unstable' it became immune to Error." They reminded core.

Core Frisk continued to frown, "You really think that this 'helped' the timeline? Had I not awoken you, Verdana would have destroyed the universe with her Hate at the first appearance of Betty. And speaking of Error… you really think this would stop him now? You've been asleep for too long, Rindie… There are larger forces at play here."

Rindie chuckled mirthfully. "At play, yes. Because you are all younger than me." They said with a smirk, before glaring. "And do you really think I wouldn't put SOME kinda failsafe on Verd? You know my paranoia."

Core Frisk shook their head, "You're lucky the Artifact doesn't affect you, or I'd have limited your power the moment you came here to this universe."

Rindie gave a sad smile. "You wouldn't. You'd be killing the multiverse of SOULs in me then, if you used an Artifact to do that. And you can't bring yourself too," They said.

Core grew impatient, "Bahh, we're wasting too much time with our disputes again!" They said, shaking their head.

"I don't know about you, but I actually had the idea to 'pause' this time before we started bickering like a married couple," Rindie said, pointing to a bird frozen in the air.

Core Frisk crossed their arms in annoyance, "You know my current existence. I was thrown into the Core and scattered like Gaster, only I'm more physical and have more control over myself. I can't influence entire timestreams."

Rindie shook their head a little bashfully. "Right, sorry. Anyway, we should really drop this skeleton off with her family before dealing with the pink one," The multi-sweater's child said.

Core nodded before pausing for a moment, "I had forgotten to ask the past few times, but… your 'hosts', do they hold onto all of their power, or does most of it return to you?"

"They gain whatever special abilities they would have previously had in a safer variation. If it's easier to calm them, for Verdana, or otherwise. I don't really give them any power beyond what I need to start their SOUL up. Past that is pretty much all them," Rindie explained to Core, even as the two walked off the roof and floated down.

* * *

Back inside, time resumed, and after they finished explaining everything as best as they could to Asriel, they all began trying to comfort both Sans and Chara. Neither of them ready to lose Verdana. After a few moments, two familiar figures and one foreign one appeared. Core Frisk stood beside a new figure, who was carrying Verdana. This must've been the 'Rindie' that Alex, Core, and Sans had mentioned.

Chara stood up and saw Verdana being held, unconscious, by Rindie. Of course, being the loving and compassionate girl that she was, Chara simply approached the three of them and punched Rindie, as hard as she could, in the face.

Almost like they were a cartoon, Rindie's head shot off and into the wall, bouncing off and rolling on the floor, now staring at the ceiling. "Welp… probably shoulda just knocked and left, quit while I was… _a head_." Rindie said. Unfortunately for Chara, as she tried to not react to the pun, Sans couldn't help himself. He summoned his trombone and played, "Wah, wah, waahhhhh!"

Chara spun around quickly and gave Sans a death stare.

Chara turned back toward Rindie, still carrying Verdana, and reached in to take her from them. The headless body held the skeleton out to Chara. Without question, Chara took her and held Verdana closely, slowly swinging her back and forth before pulling her as close to herself as she could. "V-Verd…" Chara said quietly.

"Alright, now come pick me up!" Rindie shouted at their body. Comically, it ran into literally almost everything, earning it shouts and insults before it finally managed to put it's head on… backwards. While Frisk, Alex, and Asriel laughed, Chara only spared a quick glare before returning her attention to Verdana. Core, unable to help themselves, leaned over towards Rindie's reversed head, and whispered with a smile, "I don't think she likes you."

Rindie, after grabbing their head and turning it back straight, whispered back. "Well, she likes one of me," They said to Core with a snicker. Verdana leaned into Chara, mumbling incoherently in her sleep. Chara began to get giddy as she held onto Verdana even tighter before she looked back up at Rindie, glaring daggers at them.

"You so much as think of messing with Verd, and I'll do everything in my power to make you pay…" She threatened, not really caring if they had more power than her.

The room darkened, and a sad disturbing smile formed on Rindie's face as their eyes were shadowed. " _ **d…**_ " They said, before everything returned to normal, Rindie smiling innocently.

Chara, trying to hide the small amount of fear that came to her in that instant, replied, "W-well, if you were inside of Verd this whole time, you know how much I care about her… just keep that in mind!"

"I know. Make sure to take care of her… _**I don't take kindly to bad things happening to my former hosts.**_ " They said, before holding their head and growling at themself. "No, _**down you**_!"

They all looked at Rindie with a combination of concern and confusion. Chara simply narrowed her red eyes at him, "If you do care, then you should stop calling them fucking hosts! She's more than that!" She yelled back in anger.

" _I know that, but before we form an_ _ **ACTUAL CONNECTION All I know of them**_ _is they once hosted my SOUL_ _ **so I could rest.**_ _It is a_ _ **title**_ _not a_ _ **insult you IDIOT!**_ " Rindie said. If any were to look at their left eye, they would see the darkness spreading, bit by bit as Chara whittled away at their Patience.

Core decided to step in now, before it escalated further, "Shut up, you two!" They looked at Chara, "Chara, chill the heck out. You still have Verdana, so just chill!" Then they turned to Rindie, "And you should try to stay a bit more patient here. Not only do you know this Chara personally, but you've met countless other. You know how they are!" Core Frisk yelled, angry at both.

"You _know_ _ **how Betty's drain**_ _ **my patience**_ " Rindie replied with a snarl, before closing their eyes and taking a deep breath. "Let's just go deal with her." They all nodded in agreement. Before they came up with a plan, Alex spoke up.

"H-hey. If y-you two are familiar with Betty and everything… who's Kumu?" He asked, trying to figure out how dangerous it would be if Betty reunited with this 'Kumu'.

" **PARASITE.** " Rindie said simply, keeping their eyes firmly shut to half the darknesses spread. They didn't need their eyes to see anyway. Core Frisk nodded in agreement before frowning.

"Akumu, or 'Kumu' for short is like Betty's second half. The more monster-like portion. If she gets Akumu back, she'd be several times more dangerous. You thought she was bad earlier… you haven't seen anything yet…" They all frowned at this information. After Alex received his answer, he took a step forward towards Rindie.

"H-hey Rindie?" Alex asked calmly, trying to get their attention despite their inner struggle with the Hate. Rindie simply tilted their head a little to show their listening. "I know, after your time as the voice in my head and as Verdana, that you know about my soul. Do… do you think Purity would help clear your head?"

"Maybe **I don't know** I rarely **meet a PURE** SOUL." Rindie said, tone constantly shifting from dark and normal. Alex nodded, deciding to try it out. He summoned forth his Silver soul and felt the energy build within it for a moment. After a second, he released the energy through a gentle beam of energy, which entered Rindie and flowed through them. The one thing Alex didn't take into account was the sheer amount of souls within Rindie, making him use a considerable amount of his energy and magic.

Rindie visibly relaxed, a gentle smile coming across their face. They could tell this only brought the HATE down for a little, the barrier between it and their white SOUL still damaged… but it was a good temporary solution, no matter how little it'd last. It'd spike when they see Betty after all. Before Rindie could tell Alex about his success, everyone heard his form hit the ground.

Laying on the ground now, beside Rindie, laid a much paler and unconscious version of Alex, having expended too much energy on that attempt. Frisk rushed over in a panic, picking up his head and holding him gently. "A-Alex?!" She began to panic for a moment.

Rindie blinked, coming back to their senses. "Woah, mana drained there, huh? I got a potion somewhere for that…" Rindie mumbled as they brought a screen up, looking through it. While they were looking through their menu, someone new entered the house, calling up to them.

"Hello? Frisk? Chara? Asriel? Alex? Verdana? Anyone?" They called out, each of them recognizing his voice as Mister Sower. Asriel, having not been busy with either Alex or Verdana, ran down the hall to show him where they were. After a moment, Asriel returned with the teacher. Core Frisk disappeared from view before they returned.

Chara asked the question they were all wondering, "Mr. Sower? What are you doing here?"

He was about to chuckle a bit, but then he noticed Alex's condition, making his tone serious, "Your father called me and asked me to check on all of you. He was too busy working on contacting everyone else to come back." Then, he focused on Alex, "What happened?"

Frisk looked over, "Alex used too much magic and got hurt. Rindie's trying to find something to help." The teacher looked up to see Rindie, looking through a screen of some sort. The teacher seemed unnerved and nervous for a moment before he collected himself.

"Any luck there, Rindie?" He asked at the new, unfamiliar figure. Rindie took a couple seconds before smiling, pulling two potions out. One was blue and seemed… mystical, for lack of a better word, and the other grey.

"Blues his, grey's mine," Rindie said, holding the blue for someone to take as the menu closed. Frisk nodded with Determination in her eyes before she took it and began to slowly give it to Alex. She held him up a little to allow him to drink the potion. After a few moments, it seemed like it was working, as color returned to his cheeks. Frisk cheered.

Rindie meanwhile chugged the grey potion like their life depended on it, grimacing at it's foul taste. Frisk smiled up at Rindie's disgusted face and giggled a bit, "Thanks, Rindie!"

Finishing the potion and storing the bottle for later, they sent a smile. "No problem. Now, we have a Betty to deal with." Rindie said.

Jordan Sower nodded a bit, stroking his light, unshaven beard, "That's right. Asgore said something about a girl in pink who was putting people into nightmares. What do you need me to do?" He asked, willing to help in any way possible.

Chara looked at him, "Well, we could always have someone else come with us to Gaster's lab. That's where she probably is."

Mister Sower frowned a bit, "But… I can't really fight. I don't know any magic…" He said, looking down at his chest where his soul likly was.

"I'll handle her." Rindie said with a smile. " _ **I've done it before.**_ " Rindie grimaced. Damn, the medicine didn't work.

The teacher nodded, "Ok…" He looked at Rindie for a moment, "I assume you're more than just some kid these children found somewhere…"

"Yep," Rindie said simply. Raising their hand, they smirked. "Let's go," They said with a snap, and they all vanished, reality around them _ceasing_ for the smallest of seconds before they all appeared outside the lab.

* * *

Mister Sower looked around in wonder, his mouth forming a large 'o'. He had never experienced teleportation magic first-hand. Frisk, Alex, and Chara all giggled at him, while Sans shrugged. " _don't worry pal, you'll get used to it."_ The teacher shrugged for a moment before turning toward Rindie.

"So, what's the plan here? We have no idea what's going on inside." He spoke before he jumped high into the air out of surprise when Core Frisk reappeared in front of him.

"Actually, I've got some bad news. Akumu is inside, and Gaster is still in his nightmare." They announced.

"Take Gaster and get safe. **I got some aggression to place,** " Rindie said with a wide smile, walking right into the lab as they cracked their knuckles.

Core Frisk sighed, "Sometimes, I feel like they keep forgetting my limitations…" They paused a moment to clarify, "I can't teleport others. I, myself, don't even teleport. Because I'm already everywhere." No one fully understood what they meant.

They all looked at each other before Alex, Chara, Frisk, and Alex ran inside as well to get Gaster. Upon entering the lab, they could see Rindie ignoring their existence as he continued towards the main lab, where the QMA, and Betty, were located. Following close behind, they entered the main lab as well to find a disaster.

Much of the equipment was either damaged or destroyed, with the QMA still functioning somehow. The spinning vortex was still connected to Betty's and Akumu's world. Gaster laid slumped against the side of his desk with his pupils glowing pink. On the other side of the lab stood Betty, smiling wickedly at all of them. Beside her was a large, spherical pink blob with an equally hideous grin on its face. Guess that was Akumu…

Rindie cracked their knuckles again. "Greetings. **Let's get right to the point** " Rindie said, throwing their left hand at the two, firing a sickly black beam. It impacted their location, only to reveal another illusion. Betty and Akumu were somewhere else. The moment the beam hit the wall and exploded, fiendish giggling began echoing in the lab.

Not wishing to sit still due to the laughter, the four kids (and Verdana, in Chara's arms) ran over to Gaster to try to wake him up. Rindie closed their eyes tighter, reaching out with their other senses in search of Betty, even using some magic. In just a moment, their senses revealed her location… behind them.

Before Rindie could react in time, Akumu smashed into Rindie quickly. Knowing it wouldn't be able to kill Rindie, it decided to send him off balance instead, sending them to the ground for a moment. Betty stood beside them for a millisecond before swinging her hand in an attempt to put them into a nightmare with her pink magic.

"* **But nothing happened** " Rindie said with a disturbing giggle, turning and, arm going black, slashing with the now blade arm. Betty barely moved out of the way quick enough, her hair having not dodged successfully and taking part of the blow, much to her annoyance. " **Oh, I wanted to take more off the** _ **top**_ **if you get me**." She scowled at them and knew, deep down, that this battle would not be easy or quick.

As the kids looked on at the display in awe, Alex got to work, using his Purity soul to try to wake him up. After a moment, Alex's vision faded as he entered the doctor's mind.

* * *

Doctor Gaster was having a pretty great day today. After constant begging from Verdana, he finally gave in and took her to see the Core. Sans, of course, decided he'd tag along too, having decided he had nothing better to be doing. Papyrus, having been given the day off at Grillby's decided to come along as well. Together, the entire skeleton family shortcutted and arrived at the Core in the Underground.

They spent the next hour walking through the various rooms within the Core, Verdana's expression grew brighter and brighter as she took in more and more of the sights. Gaster couldn't help himself from beaming too, in response to his daughter's happiness. As the tour approached the end, they finished up in the main control room of the Core, a room which is normally inaccessible. Luckily for them, however, he built the Core, and thus had access to it.

Once Verdana saw the interior of the massive control room, her sockets began to nearly sparkle with joy, making Gaster chuckle. He held out both arms and spun around in a little circle, " _ **And this. This is the main control center of the Core. It is here, that all of the information and data is created, stored, and accessed. Here, we can alter the power output and even turn it off if we wanted to."**_ He announced proudly to his family.

Sans chuckled, " _wow dad, this is pretty amazing. i've never seen this room before."_

Gaster nodded, " _ **Well, there was hardly much reason to come here. I only came here for monthly check-ups, which you weren't involved in."**_ Sans smiled and nodded.

"WOWIE DAD, THIS IS SO COOL. SO YOU BUILT ALL OF THIS?!" Gaster smiled at Papyrus' compliment.

" _ **Yes Papyrus. It took decades of work to build, with many more years spent prior to that as I worked on my theories and blueprints. It was a very ambitious project."**_ They all nodded.

Verdana spoke now, a bit concerned, "B-but i-isn't it d-d-dangerous?"

Gaster smiled gently at her, " _ **Not to worry Verd, with me around, nothing is going to hurt my family!"**_ This calmed Verdana down as she smiled and nodded.

The next several minutes were spent with his children asking him questions while he gave complicated, but understandable answers. Everything was going fine… before the alarm began to go off.

The loud alarm blared and echoed throughout the entire Core, and likely the entire Underground as well. Verdana looked terrified, "D-d-daddy?!" Gaster tried to smile reassuringly before he ran off towards the main consol. Once there, he saw what happened. A catastrophic failure had occurred with the cooling system, causing the power levels to spike and the temperatures to exceed the thresholds. This… was not good.

As if in response, the room began to shake, as if an earthquake was occurring. He turned around to face his family, when the floor suddenly gave way beneath Papyrus. His form quickly vanished from sight as the three of them called his name in fear and panic. Gaster ran over toward the hole and looked down into it, unable to see anything but darkness. Gaster screamed out down the hole, " _ **PAPYRUS!"**_

As the alarms continued to blare, he looked up at his children to see both Sans and Verdana looking at him with confused glances. He looked back down the hole before putting both hands on his skull, " _ **Oh… oh my… Papyrus…"**_ He was snapped out of his panicking thoughts to Sans' hand on his shoulder.

" _hey g, who's papyrus?"_

Gaster looked mortified, recoiling and flinching away from his son. He looked at Verdana with fear in his eye sockets. "Y-yeah d-dad. W-why are y-y-you panicking?"

As the alarms continued, Gaster was unable to calm down, especially after what Sans and Verdana just told him. As he sat on the ground a few feet away from them, the floor gave out under Sans as well, sending him into the heart of the Core, far below him. Gaster screamed out for Sans too, as did Verdana.

Tears formed in his sockets and began to flow down his cheekbones. He… his sons… He kneeled there and sobbed for a moment before he felt Verdana wrap her arms around him in a hug. He tried to smile, but couldn't do it.

"D-Daddy… w-why are y-you crying?" Gaster flinched, his tears only continuing even harder now. Did… did his sons suffer the same fate as himself? Are they now erased from the timeline? Gaster was at his limits of his sanity.

After a moment, while his sockets were closed, Verdana's grip was lost as he heard her screams. He opened them quickly, to watch her fear filled expression as she fell into the Core, being scattered across the universe and flung into the Void.

As she disappeared, the alarms turned themselves off as Gaster collapsed onto his side. All three of his children… erased from existence… and he had just told them that he wouldn't let anything happen to them… He laid there on the ground, beside the three holes, before a flash went off beside him. At this point, he was hoping the Core was overheating again, taking him to the Void to join with his children.

After a moment, when it was confirmed that he wasn't going to be joining his children any time soon, he felt someone lay a hand on his shoulder. The person beside him spoke, "Doctor Gaster?" Gaster picked his tear-stained skull up, off of the ground, and looked at the voice. It was Alex.

" _ **Al… Alex?"**_ He asked, unsure. Alex froze in panic for a second, having never seen Gaster broken down like this. After a moment, Alex nodded. Gaster sighed, turning away, " _ **Go a-away Alex. Let me be alone… with what's left of my family…"**_

Alex, somehow, picked Gaster up enough to make him sit up. He looked at Alex with a confused expression, " _ **What do you want…?"**_ Alex wrapped him in a hug, surprising him.

"It's ok Doctor. This isn't real. Your family is ok!" Gaster pushed Alex away for a moment and began to look angry.

" _ **Are you trying to tell me that I DIDN'T just see what I just saw? What do you take me for, an idiot? Is this some kind of stupid prank? Because it's not funny!"**_

Alex shook his head, "Gaster, Betty did this to you. Her soul… it's the soul of Fear. This is what she does! You have to believe me, Sans, Papyrus and Verdana are perfectly fine."

Gaster's sockets began to fill with hope, " _ **You… you remember them?"**_

Alex nodded, "Please, trust me Gaster. Focus on me. Focus on your lab. Remember that this is only a dream… and it's time to wake up."

Gaster nodded and closed his eyes as he felt the 'Core' around him vanish. The comforting darkness overcame him for a moment before his senses were overwhelmed. Finally, after being under for so long… Gaster woke up.

* * *

Alex woke up too. He'd like to say that he awoke to find Betty and Akumu as a pile of ashes. He'd like to say the came back to finding his friends and family standing victorious. He'd really love to say that even if they were still fighting, that they were close to winning, and no new plot twists had occurred. Unfortunately… he was unable to say any of that…

As Alex's vision and senses returned… he felt his soul involuntarily leave his chest as he was drawn into the battle.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **That's part three of the Betty Arc. Next up is the all important 'Vs. Betty' fight chapter. Now that Rindie's returned and Core Frisk had gotten involved, who knows how the timeline will react. Stay tuned for more as this arc approaches its end. Tomorrow, you will see what comes next. Hope you've enjoyed it thus far. If you have, let us know! Thanks for keeping up and reading my stuff...  
**_

 _ **Hope this all has hurt ya right in the feels… cause I know it did for me as I wrote…**_

 _ **-swrWriter**_


	25. Rhabdophobia

As soon as Alex drifted off into Gaster's mind, everything kinda went south quickly in the lab.

The first mistake made was bringing Verdana into the Lab, being still held in Chara's arms as she knelt beside Alex, Frisk, and Gaster. Betty, deciding that now would be a good time to do so, used her special attack: Rhabdophobia. The pink field enveloped the entire lab in a pink glow for only a moment before it quickly faded. Unfortunately, while everyone else seemed confused by this, Rindie knew exactly what this meant.

"Get out of the field!" They shouted too late.

Before they could responded, Verdana began to move and wake up in Chara's arms, making her smile in hope, ignoring Rindie's plea. Verdana's eyes shot open, her pupils in her sockets glowing a frightening pink. Chara might not have know what Betty did a moment ago, but now… now she did. "V-Verd?!" Chara asked the little skeleton, hoping desperately that she wasn't under Betty's control.

Chara heard the whine of blasters charging, before she felt herself being shoved violently away. She nearly got blasted to ashes as her previous location was now a charred crater from one of Verdana's blasters. Chara looked at Verdana in horror after the attack, before getting to her feet quickly. All the while, Betty simply giggled at the display.

Before anything else could happen, mistake number two reared its ugly face. The world around all of them began to blink rapidly before the terrain became monochrome. The familiar feeling of Battle Magic enveloped all of them, however it felt far more powerful and intense. Almost as if it was forced upon them. All of their souls began to emerge from their chests for everyone to see.

Something was off with Rindie's. The white and the black seemed to be… stabbing into one another, as if they were fighting. After another moment like this, Gaster and Alex stirred, both waking up before their souls, too, exited their chests. Chara and Asriel looked at Rindie's soul in shock. That probably wasn't good. As the Battle Magic continue to effect everyone, a haunting, creepy tune began to play as Rindie's menu was forced up, reading:

 ***LeT's EvEn ThE oDdS, sHaLl We?! =)**

* * *

 **[Cue: 'Yanderetale BAD TIME (Katsu's take-updated)' {Would've used Betty's theme, but this is creepy enough!}]**

Rindie frowned. They felt they _could_ have broken out of this, but that'd cause too much damage to the timeline they weren't too sure their SOUL could fix in the state it was. Instead, they pressed FIGHT, getting the mark dead center. Luckily… or unfortunately for Rindie, Akumu quickly formed a shield around Betty, shielding her from most of damage. She simply giggled at the attempt.

After that, Akumu quickly shifted into a large scythe-like weapon, wielded by Betty. She dashed forwards towards Rindie, a sick smile on her face as she drew close. Rindie raised their right hand, palm forwards. A white shield circled by red appeared around them. While locked with her weapon on the shield, the controlled Verdana sent several blasters firing at Rindie's shield, covering it with their energy.

Rindie grunted. This body of theirs couldn't handle too much of their power, they didn't set it to be able to. They should have just worn suppressor instead of making a weaker body for themselves for this AU! Suddenly, all of the summoned blasters exploded as red, magical knives shot through and destroyed them. Betty, still locked onto the shield, was caught by surprise and blasted with a silver beam of Purity, sending her stumbling back. She growled in frustration, while Rindie was finally given a moment to breathe.

The dual SOUL colored being frowned. If things kept up, they'd need to use _that_. They didn't want to, because of it's… newly acquired risks, but if they needed to they would. Not being idle while they fought, Rindie stabbed the black sword-arm into the ground, making black spikes erupt from the ground aiming at Betty.

Betty tried to jump up, out of the way, but was grazed by the spikes. Her HP, however, barely responded to the blow, making her giggle even more. As the spikes retracted, Rindie was forced to end their attack as the turn ended. However, the menu didn't pop up for them this time. Looking over to the side, they saw the 'menu' appear before Alex.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 ***CHECK PURIFY**

 ***Bete Noire ATK yes DEF yes**

 ***FEAR has no equal… except DETERMINATION**

"Focus on trying to get Verdana back to herself! **I have a plan!** " Rindie shouted out to the others. Chara nodded, before looking at Alex.

"ALEX! PURIFY HER!" She screamed. Alex nodded and held his arm towards Verdana and let a beam of Purity magic fly toward her. Success, it hit her dead-center in the soul since it surprised her. But…

 ***But Nothing Happened**

Verdana was simply forced a foot backwards before she responded with several blasters forming around her and firing at the four Dreemurrs. They all dashed in separate directions to avoid the blasts, which was what she wanted, allowing her to hit a few of them after the first blast missed. Alex skidded a few feet across the floor, Asriel slammed into the far wall unconscious, and Chara and Frisk managed to escape without injury.

Betty continued smiling before she summoned her trademarked pink spear in her hand, throwing it right at Rindie's soul. The spear easily punctured their soul, going halfway through it.

Rindie gasped, looking down. Looks like they had no choice. "Heh… good shot, Betty. However… you just made. A big mistake" Betty, ignoring their threat, pulled back with her magic in an attempt to pull Rindie's soul back towards her.

But nothing happened. Instead, both black and white that were previously intruding on the others side retreated…before bleeding into Rindies form. Their left and right sides were covered in the substance as their sweater, somehow unharmed, vanished. Their left side was completely black, with demonic claws and a demonic horn on their head, a white vertical slit for a eye.

Their other side was the opposite. It was covered in white, with a halo around their wrist and above the right side of their head. A black slit was this sides eye. White, holy flames covered their right hand as black demonic erupted on their left. Hunching over, a giant demonic black wing erupted from the left side of their back, a white angelic one at it's opposite.

 *** Rindies True Form emerges…**

Betty, smile faltering for the first time today, let out a small breath in relief as the turn ended and the 'menu' popped back up, this time for Chara. Surprisingly, despite it not being their turn, Rindie appeared behind Betty. " _Why hello there._ _ **I believe this is yours**_ _,"_ The strange creature said, before a slightly greyer spear stabbed right above her SOUL through her chest. Her eyes widened with shock upon seeing the spear sticking out of her chest.

For some reason, in a similar fashion to monsters, a pink mist-like dust began to exit the wound, rather than blood. Akumu wasted no time snapping the spear and pushing Rindie away, before grabbing the nearest vial of magic to them and smashing it against Betty. Unfortunately, for every party in the lab, Akumu had just given Betty one of Gaster's vials of Hate that he had collected for study.

Betty straightened her posture before nodding to Akumu. Wasting no further time, Chara finally made her move, surprising no one.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK *PLEAD**

Chara called out to Verdana, "VERD! Wake up, please! This isn't you!" In response, Verdana sent another wave of energy blasts at her, Frisk, and Alex as they moved to dodge once more. Gaster, having since moved from his location by his desk, was nowhere to be seen. Now, there was no longer Battle Magic trying to force Rindie in place.

Rindie fired waves of black and white fire at Betty, smiling a half white and half black smile as they did. Betty, with the help of Akumu, was able to dodge most of the flames, while Akumu took the undodgeable ones. Betty, despite previously being impaled, giggled and counter attacked, summoning forth a large amount of pink spears around her. She sent the majority of them at Rindie, with a few being sent towards the others.

All of the ones at Rindie harmlessly passed through them. Maybe now would be a good time to CHECK what she was dealing with.

The kids weren't exactly doing super well against the Betty-controlled Verdana. Alex continued trying to Purify Verdana, which wasn't working due to his lack of Determination. Which should be rather obvious, really. Chara and Frisk, however continued trying to get her attention and distract her. Unfortunately, if Alex was doing anything to her, he was making her angrier and lower on HP.

Now, the 'menu' had swapped owners once more, and moved to Frisk. She watched as the familiar 'options' appeared, before making her choice.

 **[FIGHT] *[ACT] [ITEM] [MERCY]**

 **CHECK *CALL-FOR-HELP**

Frisk called out for help, hoping someone else would come. After a moment, Gaster reappeared, holding a vial of glowing red liquid. The side read 'Determination'. He called out, " _ **Alex, use this!"**_ Gaster threw the vial through the air towards Alex, who barely caught it and examined the vial before realizing what to do.

Alex took it out and injected it into his arm, allowing the warm, red liquid to flow throughout his entire body for a moment, before his eyes began to glow a soft red color. His soul followed suit, now turning into a shining red color. He was filled… with Pure Determination.

Wasting no further time, he held out his hand and let another beam of Purity magic shoot out towards Verdana, this time coated in Determination. Upon hitting Verdana's soul, the pink hue to it faded back to white as her pupils flickered before dimming. In response, she crashed and fell onto the ground, losing consciousness.

Alex smiled triumphantly while Chara ran over to pick Verdana back up. Alex continued to smile despite Betty and Akumu still standing nearby, simply happy that Verdana was no longer either a threat or in danger. A moment later, a pink spear pierced his chest and soul, making him freeze in place as he stared down at it, blood now flowing from the wound. Frisk screamed.

As Frisk tried to run over to Alex and save him, Betty continued. She giggled as she pulled back, yanking Alex's soul away from him and bringing it towards her hand. Alex fell to the ground as the color began to drain from his face.

Rindie, since they were not restricted to simply standing and watching, lept at the SOUL and intercepted it midway, snatching it. Betty wasn't particularly happy by this, as she leaped forward in anger, trying to get the human SOUL that she had taken.

" _ **Gonna need to borrow this,**_ " Rindie whispered to the SOUL, before temporarily absorbing it. They could give it back later. Turning towards Betty, their left hand grew, them slashing the now sword-sized claws at her. There was a strange silver-red energy around the claws. Betty screamed out in pain as a large claw mark appeared on her chest, sending her flying backwards into the wall. Her impact against the wall was softened, however, by Akumu.

As she lifted herself back up to her feet, Rindie and everyone else could see an inky-black substance seep from her wound and seal it. " _ **Looks like I need to up the ante,**_ " Rindie said with a frown. They were hesitant to do this, this form was already pressing their luck. IF they did what they thought they might need to… they didn't know what would happen. And that worried them, just a little.

Frisk, looked down at her now motionless, bleeding boyfriend and decided she was done. She was done sitting by and letting her family be hurt. She sent a glare towards Chara, who got the message and ran over with Verdana to watch Alex, while she got up. Frisk's eyes began to glow a soft red as he soul began to glow brighter than ever before.

 ***Knowing that fate of the world and Alex rests with you…**

 ***You are filled with DETERMINATION**

She took in a deep breath before her soul created a large, glowing red shield on her left arm, while summoning a glowing red sword in her right hand. She then ran over to Rindie's side, not willing to let anyone else solve all of her problems without her. Rindie could see the Determination in her eyes.

Rindie smiled. This could be the stabilizer they needed. " _ **Frisk. I can end this in one attack, but I need something from you. I need to borrow that brand new DT you have, and use you to launch an attack that will vaporize that pink abomination. Will you allow me to do this?**_ " Rindie asked, holding both hands, the same size again, to Frisk.

Frisk didn't need a menu to show her the options. Without hesitation she nodded. While this was going on, Betty fully regained her strength and giggled at the two of them. "Pink abomination? All I see is a Mistake and a Pacifist. If anything, you're the abomination!"

" _ **A literal five year old has legitimately insulted me better than you.**_ " Rindie shot back. Hands growing, they wrapped Frisk up in black and white. Their wings shot into the ground, and from around Betty two walls appeared, black and white. It looked oddly like the barrier. Betty's eyes began to open in fear, realizing this didn't look good for her.

From Rindie, what first looked like seven SOULs appeared, each main trait. Upon closer inspection, Rindie was calling upon _all_ their SOULs. Every. Last. One.

Suddenly, Betty and Akumu shimmered before them. Now, laying there in pain was Alex, bleeding out. "P-please Frisk… st-stop…" He begged. Frisk's Determination began to falter.

" _ **This is rather pathetic. Frisk, how would Alex even get IN here? I blocked them off.**_ " Rindie said with a chuckle. They were gathering power, turning their black and white self into a rainbow. Almost ready. As the image shimmered back to Betty and Akumu, Akuma was seen beating against the barrier around them. Frisk angrily gripped her sword a bit tighter.

A button appeared in front of Frisk. It read 'Finish them'. As much as Frisk never wanted to hurt someone, she knew what had to be done. She nodded, slightly solemnly, wishing there could've been a more peaceful solution, before pressing down firmly upon the golden button.

The walls collapsed onto the pink couple even as a rainbow beam assaulted them from every direction. Betty and Akumu screamed in pain as all the energy ripped into them, tearing the two apart. Atom. By. Atom. The overwhelming light from the blast shattered something else as well, causing the Battle Magic to fade away as the haunting theme died.

 **[Cue End of Music]**

* * *

With the battle over, Rindie retracted their hands and SOUL. Walking over to Alex, they pulled the PURITY SOUL out of themself and put it back where it belonged, using the last of their energy to heal his form.

Now drained, and with all of their SOULs almost completely grey except for their CORES, Rindie brought them into themself again… and fell to the side, returning to 'human'... but something was wrong. Their SOUL, still over their chest, wasn't black and white anymore. It was grey.

Now that the battle was over, Gaster walked over to the center of his ruined lab and frowned at the ground. The QMA was currently offline, which he turned off during the fight. Gaster sighed, knowing that this wasn't going to be the end of the night, " _ **Is everyone alright?"**_

Alex, after having a coughing fit after returning to life, nodded while Frisk jumped upon him and hugged him tightly. Chara nodded as well as she held Verdana closely. Asriel, now waking up, wandered over, clutching his head, and nodded, "I think so." Gaster smiled gently at them before looking at Verdana with a confused expression before looking at Rindie and approaching them.

" _ **Rindie?"**_ He asked in confusion, having decided to not ask about them in the middle of the battle. Rindie only groaned in pain, eyes shut. They felt so _weak_ , they couldn't even get up. Or move. Before Gaster could do much of anything else, he heard his name being screamed from the nearby doorway.

"DOCTOR GASTER!" Screamed Core Frisk as they stood there, looking angrily at Gaster. Gaster already hung his head before Core could begin to berate him, "How many freaking times have I told you about messing with the timelines?!" Gaster didn't reply. "You didn't listen when we first met, you ignored me when you sent Alex to the Genocide, you ignored me when Rindie first appeared, and now… look at everything that's happened!"

Gaster narrowed his sockets at Core Frisk, " _ **Listen here, Core. I had no idea who Betty was. If you really cared about this timeline, you would've warned me before I turned off the magic inhibitors for Betty!"**_

Core Frisk visibly recoiled, frowning before folding their arms over their chest, "I told you that I don't like to alter timelines too much."

Chara spoke up in anger, "Really?! What do you call this, then!?" She said, motioning around to the ruined lab, before pointing at Rindie, "If you didn't want to alter the timeline, why'd you threaten Verd and wake up Rindie?!"

Gaster's sockets darkened, " _ **What?!"**_

Core Frisk grew frustrated, "That's not the point! The point is that YOU-" They pointed at Gaster, "- have been altering all of these timelines, with little-to-no regard for the consequences of your actions." Before anyone could respond, Core Frisk also angrily pointed at Rindie.

"And YOU! What the heck were you thinking?! You could've destroyed the timeline with that stunt you pulled against Betty!" Core Frisk yelled at Rindie, not caring at all how they currently felt.

Rindie only groaned in pain again, not really responding to the Frisk. Core Frisk narrowed their sockets at them regardless, before looking at everyone else.

"In reality, the timeline would've been destroyed… but luckily for you all, I have connections. One of them agreed to help close the cracks as they formed. And I know you think-" Core began in a mocking tone, "oh, but Core Frisk, I've set up countermeasures to prevent that sort of stuff." Core narrowed their eye sockets again. Damn how are they not closed at this point, "That's not the point! None of this would've ever happened if the two of you hadn't begun interfering with everything!"

Finally, Rindie seemed to collect themself enough to stand. "And if I did not, Gaster still would have anyway, despite _your_ initial appearance. He would have run into Betty. And this all would have happened anyway." Rindie said neutrally, no emotion at all in their stance or voice and their eyes still shut firmly. "I simply chose the timeline that had the least casualties. You cannot see the timelines with me until they happen. So you can be quiet, and stop being a brat."

Core Frisk yelled out in frustration, making them all watch them. Wow they really were being a brat. After a moment, someone new entered the lab. "Is the fighting over now?" Mr. Sower asked as he entered, his Golden SOUL still on display from the earlier battle magic.

"Yes." Rindie informed simply. The teacher smiled and let out a sigh in relief as he entered with Sans close behind, smiling like usual.

" _hey g, looks like you're awake now."_ Gaster smiled at his son and nodded.

Then, Gaster stroked his chin in thought before speaking, as if Core Frisk hadn't yelled at him in the slightest, " _ **So, it seems I will need to put more countermeasures up before I resume my research."**_ This caused Core Frisk to yell out in anger once more, before appearing right in front of Gaster.

"NO WAY! There is no way you're going to start messing with the timelines again!" They yelled in disbelief and anger.

Rindie shook their head at core. "You act like this is the only timeline that does this. It is not." They said neutrally, starting to worry everyone a bit. This was… a little different from Rindie before.

Core continued to yell in anger, "That's different. You don't see other timelines bringing Betty into them, or going into other timelines for the sole purpose of taking essence from their Void!"

"Because Betty is 'new', and thus has not acquired enough alternates to do so, and that was to revive someone. To save them. Are you against saving people now, Core?" Rindie asked neutrally, head turned to them despite their closed eyes.

Ectoplasmic tears began to form in Core Frisk's sockets, "You don't think I want to save as many as I can?! I've tried countless times, across timeless worlds. Don't you remember what happens when I do? For every one world I save, another is created in response, in which I cannot save them!"

"Then tell me. What was your plan by entering this one? By your own logic you have created at least three worlds that have become doomed by your presence." Rindie said logically and mercilessly.

Deep down, no matter how hard they tried to portray the opposite, Core Frisk was still a kid at heart. At this, they broke down completely and fell to their knees. "Y-you're r-right…"

"You are lucky I decided to visit _after_ you, and have sent alternates to those worlds as well to save them where you cannot. Unlike you I do not suffer that curse," Rindie continued, making a small amount of relief enter Core. "I have done that for many worlds you visited. If I knew the full list, I would do them for all, but I do not like to delve into others minds."

Core Frisk remained silent on their knees for a moment, staring down at the ground, before looking up at everyone, shuddering very slightly upon looking at the teacher's Golden SOUL, but almost everyone did not notice. Eventually, Core sighed, "I'm… I'm going to go…" They finally announced, defeated.

Gaster slowly nodded at Core Frisk, "Thank you though, Core… for helping before when I was starting…" Smiling weakly, Core nodded before looking up at Rindie for a moment. They looked at their odd, grey SOUL floating before them with a look of confusion.

"Rindie… your SOUL…?" They asked, having never seen Rindie's soul look like that.

"What is wrong?" Rindie asked Core with a head tilt. "I would look at it to tell you if it is fine or not, but I appear to have caught a case of the blind."

Gaster looked a bit closer at it, " _ **It appears to be gray and colorless. And not gray as in silver, like Alex's. Just… gray…"**_ Gaster said in wonder, observing the odd SOUL.

The child frowned. They fiddled with the black undershirt they wore under their sweater, having not gotten that piece of garment out of their inventory quite yet. "That is… odd. It is not supposed to be like that," They said, before 'looking' to the side. "I… cannot access the SOULs in me. It is like they are… resting."

Core Frisk dryly chuckled, "For once, there's something the great and mysterious Rindie does not know. I'm simply astounded."

"I usually have the power to simply run every possibility instantly. I do not know. I feel… weak, numb." Rindie told Core neutrally.

Core simply shrugged for a moment before turning to face everyone, "Well, I think it's time to leave… good luck figuring everything out…" They said before physically vanishing from the lab. However, everyone that knew Core Frisk truly knew, he was still always watching. Rindie put their SOUL away.

After a moment of silence, Sans broke it while turning to Mister Sower, " _hey pal, you might wanna put your soul away. it's the sole soul still hangin' around."_ Asriel groaned at San's pun while Chara gave herself a facepalm with one hand, holding Verdana in the other, still. Everyone else couldn't help a small chuckle as the tension was cut.

Mister Sower shrugged, "I'm not that skilled in magic, remember? I'm gonna need some help here." He replied. Verdana, in her sleep, pushed the SOUL back in his chest. Somehow. Mister Sower smiled.

Chara grew really excited and began to involuntarily bounce in place. "Verd?! Are you awake?" She asked her sleeping form. Unfortunately, her only response was further slumber.

After a moment, the teacher looked over at Gaster, "Hey Doctor, did you ever discover anything about my SOUL?"

Gaster gently smiled and rubbed his chin again, " _ **Well, I have determined that every soul trait, besides the most common six, are extremely rare. To the point that only one can exist per world. Meaning, there can only be one SOUL of Determination, one of Purity, and one of… whatever you have. Hate cannot be a SOUL, and Fear seems to be a unique trait to Betty's timeline."**_

Both Frisk and Chara looked at each other with confusion and concern. Frisk asked, "Wait. But Chara and I both have Determination. How does that work?"

Gaster nodded and smiled, " _ **Yes, but there is good reason for that. You see, Chara had a Determination Soul first, before she died. Then, afterwards, you got yours. Therefore, there was only one at a time. However, with the revival of Chara, it created a paradox, allowing you both to keep your Determination SOULs."**_ Gaster continued on with his lecture on Soul Traits to the kids and the teacher.

While they were talking, Rindie was attempting to walk out. Attempted because they kept running into things. After a moment longer of attempts, Rindie felt a boney hand on their shoulder. " _i 'see' that you're having some trouble, there. iris you'd slow it down a bit."_ Sans told them.

Rindie would normally laugh at the pun, but just felt… nothing. Instead, they simply nodded and stood still. Sans chuckled dryly at his own puns, " _heh, that's your cue to laugh, pal."_ After there was still no laughter, Sans shrugged before remembering why he was talking to them, " _oh right, you're blind. since you can't see, i'll tell ya that i was shruggin'... now… where do ya think you're going?"_

"Since I seem to be incapable of leaving through my normal methods I was going to acquire an apartment so I may wait for my abilities to come back." Rindie replied neutrally.

Sans shrugged and sighed, " _listen kid, eye don't really know why you're so determined to leave, but dontcha think it's better that you stay put?"_

The newly blinded child tilted their head. "Why?" They asked simply.

Sans chuckled a bit, be remained quiet enough to not disturb his father's lesson. " _look pal."_ He chuckled a bit more at that, " _if you don't even have the ability to navigate a familiar building like this, how do you expect to take care of yourself in this condition?"_ Sans asked with a hint of concern.

Rindie shrugged a tiny bit. "I was going to pay people to do that for me. Despite my lack of powers, I still have access to my inventory and all the G in it." They said.

Sans responded, " _right… so you'll pay someone you can't see to help you for a while. and even with your inventory, if you can't tell the difference between a hallway and a wall, what makes you think you could access your inventory without accidentally grabbing something a bit more… dangerous than a pile of 'g'?"_

Rindie tilted their head. "I see your point… then where will I go?" They asked.

Sans paused for a moment to consider this. " _well, i'm sure g would help ya out since you did give us verd. and tori is pretty hospitable too. honestly, you could probably even stay at the lab in an unused room if you wanted privacy."_

"Any is fine," Rindie said simply. "I will need a walking stick." They added suddenly.

Sans chuckled a bit, " _heh, reminds me of frisk when she first appeared in the underground, waving a stick around to distract the dogs… heh…"_ After a moment, he continued, " _well, i'll talk to g about the 'where', but i'm sure we have something that'll function like a walking stick around here."_ Sans began looking around the lab before chuckling again, " _on second thought, perhaps we should just get a walking stick from somewhere else, without important equipment."_

"Alright." Rindie said simply. "Do you know a shortcut?"

Sans chuckled as a large grin formed on his face. He knew the kid couldn't see it, but he didn't care, " _as a matter of fact, i do."_ He laid his hand on Rindie's shoulder before the both vanished from the lab. Sans chuckled a bit to himself as they flew through time and space for a moment. Looks like he was getting out of lab-cleaning duty again, not that he had a problem with that in the slightest.

As Sans went with Rindie to retrieve a walking stick for them, everyone else helped clean up the lab a bit before Asgore and Papyrus arrived to take the children home. Gaster spent the rest of the evening repairing the damaged equipment and upgrading his entire system in the case of someone else coming through the QMA. Luckily for Gaster, Mister Sower remained behind to help out in anyway he could. After that whole nightmare, they were all glad they'd be able to get some sleep now…

* * *

Off in the darkness between timelines stood both the Entity and Error Sans, watching the entire ordeal as it occurred within the timeline. Error Sans became angry as he watched the destruction of Betty and the awakening of Rindie.

" _ **ThIs Is A dIsAsTeR! EvErYoNe Is StIlL AlIvE aFtEr BeTtY's AtTaCk!"**_ Error said in anger, his eyes glowing brighter than normal. The Entity simply looked at him out of the corner of their eyes before shrugging, making Error even angrier. " _ **HoW aRe YoU nOt AnGrY oVeR tHiS? EvEn YoUr InFlUeNcE oVeR tHe BaTtLe DiD nOtHiNg In ThE eNd!"**_

The Entity finally turned around to fully face Error Sans, pointing accusingly toward him, "And you still don't get it. Betty's purpose was not to destroy them, it was to destabilize them all and weaken… 'his' hold over the timeline…"

Error looked at him in disbelief, " _ **LeT mE gO tO tHeM. i CaN eAsIlY dEsTrOy ThEm!"**_

"Easy there, Error, you'll have your time."

Error Sans narrowed his sockets at the Entity before frowning, realizing how useless it was to go against the Entity's wishes. As long as they held onto his Frisk, he was at their mercy… for now… In a flash, he vanished from their sight, leaving the Entity alone to gaze upon everyone in Gaster's lab and the darkness around them.

Off in the distance laid an odd streak of yellow energy, like a comet, heading towards the timeline in question. The Entity simply smiled as he noticed this before returning his attention back to Gaster's lab, happy that everything was going according to plan.

Rindie was now weakened, Core Frisk had finally left the picture, Gaster was still undeterred from accessing the multiverse, the 'Judge' was now heading towards the timeline… and best of all, the Entity's presence was still masked and largely unknown to them all.

The Entity smiled a bit wider as their chest began to warm and glow. On cue, a Golden SOUL floated before their chest, glowing brightly. The fact that his entire well-thought-out plan was still perfectly on track…

The fact that his time to change the Timeline was quickly approaching…

It filled the Entity with CREATIVITY.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **So, the Betty fight was cool, but not as long as I originally planned it to be. I apologize, because I feel like maybe I could've done better... idk, but I think it still works well. And now... some truths have been revealed:**_

 _ **The Entity has quite an extensive plan!**_

 _ **He has a Golden SOUL, which is finally revealed to be called Creativity.**_

 _ **Now, Error Sans is on his way soon, but it seems the so-called 'Judge' is coming as well, beating Error to the Timeline. So, stay tuned and Patient until next week, where we'll pick back up again. I hoped you all enjoyed this Arc of Fear, and look forward to Error and the Entity coming by. If you like this, let us know with a fav, follow, review, or PM. Or, simply just read and enjoy the story…**_

 _ **I hope this story has filled you with Creativity…**_

 _ **-swrWriter**_


	26. Recovery

Rindie awoke to the sound of nearby equipment starting up and coming to life. After finding a suitable walking stick for them, Sans and Gaster agreed to let Rindie stay at the Lab, in an unused lounge room that was converted into a temporary bedroom for them. Gaster figured this would be the best location for them so that many people who didn't or shouldn't know about Rindie wouldn't find out, and it was a pretty decent place to live, with easy access to many things. Plus, Gaster, Sans, and Alphys would be there every day to check on them

Right now, Rindie got up. Something they'd gotten used to not feeling was hunger, but it seemed they needed to eat again without their power sustaining them. Grabbing their walking stick, grey like their SOUL, they walked out of the room to wander to where the food was.

After exiting the room, they were first spotted by Alphys. "O-oh h-h-hey, y-you must be R-Rindie." She said nervously, standing a few feet from them. Rindie waved to the scientist, before continuing on their quest for food. She took a few steps towards them, "I-I'm sorry if I w-woke you up, just r-running some calibrations on the im-improved magical i-inhibitors." She apologized before pausing for a moment, "D-do you n-need something?" She asked meekly.

"Hungry." Rindie said simply, stopping to turn their blank face to the scientist. She gasped for a moment as if she was stupid to not realize it sooner.

"W-well, in our m-main break room we h-have coffee, a-and cereal a-and other foods. I c-can lead you th-there. Th-that is, if y-you want me to."

"Okay." Rindie said, holding a hand out for her to guide them with. She smiled gently and hesitated for only a second before she gently grabbed their hand in hers and led them down the hall into the main lab, before taking them to a nearby room. Upon entering, both of their senses were filled with the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee.

Rindie didn't really react to the scent, simply moving to try and get food. Alphys released her gentle hold on Rindie before looking around in some of the cabinets. "L-let's see here… we have s-some cereal, some fruit, cr-crackers, w-water… I th-think we even h-have some spaghetti, if y-you want that."

"Crackers. Do you have a juicer?" Rindie said then asked.

Alphys pondered this for a moment before speaking, "I d-don't think so, b-but I could check." She reached inside a cabinet and handed Rindie a large box of crackers before she went in search of a juicer. A few moments later, "Aha, I f-found one." She announced before placing the juicer on the counter.

"Fruits, and a glass?" Rindie requested. She moved to grab a glass from another cabinet while speaking, "Hmm, we h-have some bananas, a few apples, since Dr. Gaster loves them, there's a few peaches f-from Asgore… and there should b-be a few tomatoes because of P-Papyrus, but I d-don't think he'd w-want them juiced..."

"Apples." Rindie said simply. Alphys nodded and soon returned with the cup and a few apples, putting them on the counter beside the juicer. She looked at the contraption for a second before looking at the currently-blind Rindie.

"D-do you n-need help w-with making th-the juice?" She asked.

Rindie hummed. "That would be best." They decided. They could hurt themself. She sighed in relief, happy that Rindie wasn't going to try it themself. She smiled as she turned on the machine and went through the process of making apple juice, which took a little bit, but she figured it out. After a moment, it was finished. She brought the cup of Apple juice to Rindie as they sat at the table with the box of crackers.

"H-here y-you go." She told them.

"Thank you." They replied, opening a thing of crackers, drinking from the juice after every couple when their mouth got dry. After a moment, a voice spoke from beside Rindie that wasn't previously there.

" _man, this is cracker-ing me up, watching you two."_ Alphys jumped in surprise at Sans' sudden appearance despite the fact that she'd known him for so long.

Rindie waved to Sans, before continuing to eat. After registering his pun, Alphy narrowed her eyes at the skeleton before rolling them, "Th-that was bad Sans. A-and can you st-stop it with those sh-shortcuts?"

Sans simply chuckled at her request before shrugging dramatically, his grin grew wider too, " _i dunno, can i stop it with my shortcuts?"_ Alphys sighed and grunted before leaving the break room to return to her work. After she left, Sans lazily took a seat beside Rindie while taking a sip of his own mug of coffee.

" _so kid, you're a multiverse-traveling kid with unlimited power and souls at your disposal?"_ He asked, before taking another sip from his mug.

"That was my description. The SOULs is still accurate, however they are… 'recharging'." Rindie explained neutrally. Sans nodded and hummed, 'uh huh' before taking another sip.

" _what's the deal with you and that other frisk? core frisk, i mean? it seems like you two don't exactly like one another…"_ He asked, gathering this from the recording of their first meeting with Gaster and from what happened a few nights ago with Betty.

"They do not like it when I save Timelines. They claim it is because it is messing with them. I believe it is because they are jealous I can when they can not without making a doomed world." Rindie explained to Sans, done with their food. Sans nodded before downing the rest of his coffee.

Sans shrugged for a moment, looking down at his empty mug, " _well, from what i've gathered, i feel kinda bad for them. think about it like this: a kid becomes cursed with being everywhere and seeing everything in the multiverse; the same kid who wished to save all of monsterkind. then, when they try to help others, they bring both salvation and damnation."_ Sans shuddered just thinking about the weight on Core Frisk's shoulders.

After getting not much of a reaction from Rindie, he asked another question, looking up from the empty mug, " _hey, when they, core frisk i mean, were talking about someone named 'error'... what did they mean? who is error?"_ He asked as he remained seated.

"Error is an iteration of you. He turned into an 'error'. He used to go through timelines destroying them, but has since gotten into a pact with Ink-you. If he is doing something like this, then someone has something of his." Rindie told Sans, not even trying to sugarcoat anything.

San's grin decreased slightly, not very happy about this, " _i take it that there's a lot of mes running around out there…"_

"Too many. People need to stop 'thinking' of more." Rindie replied. "It is like the prime timeline is obsessed with you."

Sans' grin grew for a moment, " _i guess they all think i'm san-sational."_ He said with a chuckle. Rindie only nodded, before standing to go back to their room. Not like they had anything else to do.

Before Rindie left, Sans spoke up again with another question, " _earlier, you said that error me made a pact to stop, but something's making him keep going. do ya think… that there's others trying to track him down and destroy him?"_ He asked in curiousity.

"I do not know. I believe it may be more a person that is held hostage then anything else. This is purely guesswork. I do not know because I do not have the power to run simulations at this time." Rindie said. They sounded like a robot.

" _say, kid, i've got another question now. did you ever have magic of your own, or was your power simply from all those souls?"_ He asked.

"I used to have magic of my own. However, I have grown so used to using the SOULs instead of my own, I seem to have lost connection with it." Rindie informed the blue wearing skeleton.

Sans grinned, " _well, not to worry. your old pal sans will teach ya all the tricks… and maybe you could help me a bit too, with your knowledge of the timelines and such…"_

"A favor for a favor?" Rindie asked.

Sans shrugged, not really caring if they saw it or not, " _yeah, sure. i'm pretty curious about all this stuff. i mean, i'm sure i'm real unique compared to the other mes, so you've probably never seen a sans interested in this sorta thing."_ He said, most of his tone coated in sarcasm.

"You are marginally different to most Sans's I meet despite being close to the original in appearance." Rindie said.

" _heh, alright buddy. now, why don't we start on some training before it gets to my nap time."_ He said, winking despite Rindie being STILL BLIND.

"Alright. Shortcut please." Rindie said, making sure they held onto their walking stick tightly. Sans nodded before gently grabbing Rindie's hand. A long, drawn-out sound of a woopie cushion deflating played out before Sans chuckled again, " _whoops, my bad."_ He said with no sincerity in his voice, before disappearing from the break room.

* * *

The world materialized around the pair as they appeared in the basement level of the lab, where testing magic and other things would be safe. Sans looked around to confirm they were alone before looking at Rindie.

" _so, if we're gonna learn magic, we're gonna need a starting point."_ Sans said, before lightly poking Rindie in the chest where their SOUL would normally emerge, " _so, what is your sole soultrait, before you had the several trillion or so souls in ya?"_ He asked with his usual grin.

"I do not remember." Rindie replied simply.

Sans furrowed his brow-area of his skull in thought for a moment. " _alright, then let's start with bringing your soul out. i assume you can still do that, right?"_ Rindie nodded, effortlessly summoning the gray heart. Sans leaned forward towards it, examining it for a moment.

" _yep, definitely not purity. your soul lacks the characteristic shine, and it's a bit darker than Alex's, so that eliminates one option."_ He rubbed his chin in thought, " _it also can't be fear, cause i'm pretty sure wherever you're from, you weren't an alternative betty."_

"The mere thought of that wants to make me gouge my useless eyes out." Rindie replied with complete seriousness.

Sans chuckled, " _iris you'd not. eye don't think that's in your best interest."_ He said with a wide grin before looking back at the soul, once again stroking his beardless chin, " _it also seems unlikely that it's another golden trait, cause your soul still lacks the shine to it. that narrows it down a bit… hmm, have you ever had access to 'menu buttons'? not just the menu window, but the options like 'save' and 'reset'?"_ Sans asked, still staring at the SOUL, waiting for it to reveal its mysterious secrets.

"I used to. A long time ago. I was more… red, then." Rindie told him apathetically.

" _so, that means you're determination, huh? why didn't ya just say so?"_ He asked with a bit of shock.

"Used to. I do not 'feel' Determined." The childlike being replied. They really weren't. The most DT they had was just enough to get up to go eat and to go to the bathroom and to sleep since fighting Betty.

Sans nodded, " _hmm, well, i'm not an expert on souls like g or alph, but here's my hypothesis... it seems that a combination of overexerting yourself against betty and the internal struggles you had previously with the light and dark halves may have inadvertently caused your souls to lose their traits, including your own."_

"I can feel the SOULs in me. They, at their cores, are still themselves. I am the only one who has truly lost their trait. I have a theory. Do you want to know how betty was made?" Rindie asked.

Sans stroked his chin again at this, " _made, huh? i guess that's the reason why her soul is so unique among the multiverse… anyway, yeah, you've peaked my curiousity."_ He nodded.

"A long time ago, in an alternate universe, there was a brother and a sister. The brother was DETERMINATION, the sister BRAVERY. They were two of the seven mages to make the barrier. One day, DT wanted to let the monsters free, but Bravery refused. They fought over it. Over time, Determination won the battle. Bravery proceeded to run away. She found an ancient, forbidden spell. It turned her SOUL from BRAVERY, to it's stronger opposite… _**FEAR**_. Using her new powers, she fought her brother again, winning the battle and killing him in the process. Using some of her magic, since her body was failing, she turned the SOUL into Betty and Akumu, Akumu to feed Betty and the spell that was her form." Rindie lectured to the skeleton, face not changing the entire time.

Sans nodded, the story did make sense. And boy was he happy that it hadn't happened like that here. After a moment, considering the story and Rindie, something clicked, " _hmm, wait a moment. opposite soul traits? if all soul traits are based on emotions, and your soul trait has faded… does that mean your current trait is the opposite of emotion… Apathy?"_ He deduced, " _i'd make sense, since you've shown a distinct lack of emotion over the course of the last few days, ever since your soul turned gray."_ He added, looking to see how Rindie reacted to this theory.

"It is plausible," Rindie said simply.

Sans smiled, " _no wonder you haven't been laughing at my jokes. i've told you at least ten puns today, trying to get a response from you…"_ His grin grew much larger, " _unfortunately, no pun intended."_ He finished, chuckling.

Rindie simply shrugged, incapable of caring right now.

Sans sobered for a moment, " _so, are you just apathetic, or borderline soulless? cause i'd rather not have a second weed situation."_ He asked.

"I think I am just apathetic. If you get something that you think I'd like enough, I _could_ probably have a muted emotional response," Rindie told the skeleton with a careless shrug.

Sans nodded before something else clicked, making him snap his fingers, " _wait, if a human's magic is based on emotion and their trait, maybe the way to get your magic working is to get an emotional response. what kind of things affect you the most emotionally? music, reading, video games, food?"_ He chuckled a bit, " _clearly not expertly crafted jokes."_

"Most of those things. Music would be most useful in a fight, allowing me to listen and attack instead of being distracted with reading and playing a game." Rindie said, choosing the most logical, to them, option.

Sans nodded and smiled, " _k. now... let's think of a good trial song…"_ Out of nowhere, Sans' phone appeared in his hands as he looked through it for possible songs to play. " _Hmm…"_ His grin widened as he clicked on a song. Before it started on his phone, he connected it wirelessly to the sound system, also connecting it to the upstairs lab as well to mess with Gaster and Alphys. He turned the speakers up loud in both sections before finally hitting the play button.

 **[Cue: Spooky Scary Skeletons (remix)]**

The moment the music began shrieking could be heard from upstairs, making Sans chuckle before falling onto the floor and laughing. Rindie bobbed their head to the beat for a couple seconds, before their SOUL started thumping. With every drop of the bass in the song, Rindie summoned a skeleton next to them. Once the song got to a more fast paced part, they and the skeletons fought to the beat.

Sans looked up at the display as he got his laughter back under control. He was in awe at the display, incredibly proud in both Rindie and himself. He was a pretty great teacher after all… as long as he was willing to put the effort into it.

 **[Cue: end of music]**

Once the song ended, the skeletons vanished and Rindie slumped back to their apathetic self, SOUL retreating into themself. Right as the display came to an end, in sync with the end of the song, Gaster materialized out of thin air between the two of them. His arms were crossed and his expression was not happy. He narrowed his sockets at Sans.

" _ **Sans… what did I say about messing with the sound system?"**_ He asked, not very amused by his prank. Sans fought his grin unsuccessfully as it grew, not feeling very ashamed of his actions.

"He was helping me with my magic," Rindie said neutrally to Gaster.

Sans nodded with a more relaxed, lazy grin, " _yeah g, it was for science, trust me."_ He said, adding a wink at the end. Gaster kept his eye sockets narrowed.

" _ **For some reason, I highly doubt that playing 'Spooky Scary Skeletons' on the first floor lab's speakers was-"**_ He accented this last part with air quotes, " _ **for science."**_

Sans chuckled a bit and shrugged, " _ok, so maybe that wasn't necessary for rindie, but it was still for science. i hypothesized that the music would upset and surprise you and alph, and it looks like it was proven true."_

Gaster sighed and put a hand over his face, " _ **We'll discuss your shenanigans later, but will you at least tell me what you're doing down here, rather than helping Alphys and I with the equipment?"**_

Sans motioned over towards Rindie with his head, " _i think i found out what's up with rindie's soul, and how it works currently."_ Gaster nodded, motioning him to continue, " _it seems the encounter with betty drained their soul trait, leaving them with apathy. this, and the weakening of their extra souls has severely limited their magic. however, all it takes is music, or something to stir their emotions, to get them to use their magic accordingly."_

Gaster finally smiled and relaxed his postures, " _ **I'm glad to see that you're not just slacking off."**_ He turned toward Rindie and smiled a bit wider before realizing they were still blind, " _ **Anyway, carry on. And Sans…"**_ He narrowed his sockets once more, " _ **No more music upstairs."**_ Sans lazily shrugged before Gaster disappeared again, returning to the lab upstairs.

After a moment, Sans turned toward Rindie, " _so, you wanna try one more time, or do you wanna take a break for today?"_ He asked, shrugging, " _i don't really care which, cause either way, i don't have to do much of anything."_

"I would like to test something. Do you have something I can play music on? A spare, if you have it. I do not know if you will get it back." Rindie said, having an idea.

" _well, i have a trombone, but i'm not sure if that's what you're interested in. you looking for just something to play, or something to play that's portable and small?"_ He asked.

"The second." Rindie said.

Sans couldn't help his grin, " _so, would a triangle work?"_

"I mean something like a MP3." Rindie replied dryly, somehow sounding more monotone. "If I can play something constantly, I think I may gain some emotion back."

Sans nodded, " _heh, why didn't ya just say so. if i recall, i got one awhile back when we first go to the surface, but haven't needed it since alph upgraded my phone."_

Rindie held a hand out mutely. " _oh, you want me to take you? gee pal, you're really giving me a workout with these requests. luckily for you, i know a shortcut."_ He took Rindie's hand before sending them both to the skeleton's household, landing on the couch.

" _be right back, it's probably in my room, so i'll need a minute to look for it._ " He told them before vanishing once more, leaving them on the couch.

As Rindie waited there, waiting for the skeleton to return with the music player, another skeleton appeared. Having noticed Sans' return because of his noise, Verdana crept downstairs to see Rindie sitting on the couch. Soon enough, she reached the bottom and now stood just a foot or two away from them. This was the first time the little skeleton had seen Rindie, having been asleep since they arrived.

She cleared her throat a bit before speaking, "H-hello…"

"Hello," Rindie said, looking at their former host. This, at least for Verdana, was kinda awkward.

"S-so… y-y-you were i-inside m-me?" She asked, looking at them. Rindie nodded, ignoring how she made that sound as dirty as physically possible. She, however, seems oblivious, "Wh-who a-are you e-e-exactly? Th-the other F-Frisk s-s-said y-you were d-dangerous… b-but you d-don't look b-bad…"

"I am Rindie. Nothing more, nothing less. I go around, I save timelines, and even get to live in one or two for a while." Rindie said neutrally. Verdana looked at them for a moment, kinda surprised by the lack of emotions coming from them. "I am sorry if my apathy unsettles you, my SOUL is… damaged from defeating the pink one." Verdana visibly shuddered just thinking about Betty.

She looked down in shame for a moment, "Ch-chara s-said Betty m-m-made me d-do something b-bad…" She said, frowning a bit. "H-how? Wh-what h-happened to m-me?"

"I created you with a spell. One of Betty's abilities allows her to take control of magic. While you were passed out, vulnerable, she used her ability to take control of you." Rindie explained calmly.

"Oh…" Verdana said quietly. She looked up at Rindie with a bit of fear in her eye sockets, "A-am I a-alive? D-d-do I h-have a S-SOUL?!" She asked in a panic after hearing she was created with a spell.

"Of course you are. I used a spell to bring you to life. That is how some monsters in some universes reproduce." Rindie informed her calmly, not caring for the implications of that statement.

So looked at them with confusion, "D-does th-that make y-you my m-mommy o-or someth-thing?" She asked now.

Rindie tilted their head. "If you wish to call me that then I will not stop you. I do not mind." They told her.

"B-but, y-you l-look j-just a b-b-bit older th-than me?"

"And some monsters have four legs and six hands." Rindie said simply. "But that is only how they look."

Verdana simply stood there for a moment, staring at Rindie, not learning much from this mysterious stranger/creator. Her blaster appeared next to, growing to full size, staring at Rindie as well. Despite being blind, Rindie could feel its magical presence. "Is that your blaster?" Rindie asked.

She smiled, "Y-yeah. I th-think it c-came to l-life. D-do you kn-know why?" She asked, wondering why ever since Alex and Frisk explained to her that it was the reason and cause of Alex's paint incident during the sleepover.

"It is possible that your first creation attempt picked up residue of the magic used in your creation and made it semi-sentient. Congratulations you are a mother." Rindie told her. "What will the blaster's name be?"

Verdana giggled a bit before pondering this. What could be a good name for her blaster. As she thought about it, her blaster turned toward her and tilted a bit, as if wondering what name it would be given. After a moment, she turned toward her blaster with a large smile, "H-how about… Varela?" The blaster's eye sockets closed and its jaw formed a smile as it bobbed up and down in delight.

A moment later, Sans reappeared beside Verdana, " _sup sis."_ He said, catching her a bit by surprise. She immediately hugged Sans, making him chuckle. After she released him, he took a step towards Rindie, " _found it."_ He told them as he handed Rindie a white iPod. [not sponsored by Apple]

Rindie took the iPod. Bringing their SOUL out, they shoved the iPod directly into it. It glew and changed, going from white to grey and gaining the old Black and White heart of Rindies SOUL as a symbol on it's back. From the headphones port, the SOUL 'grew' a cord. Grabbing their SOUL, they put it to their ear, and it turned into a single headphone.

Verdana looked confused, while Sans just shrugged, grateful he had no need for the iPod any longer. Sans saw her confused expression, " _i'll explain it all later sis, but dontcha have homework to be working on?"_

Verdana crossed her arms and nodded, not really wanting to leave them now. Sans chuckled, patting her skull lightly, " _c'mon sis, dontcha want chara to come over later?"_ Verdana nodded without question. " _well, you gotta finish your homework first though…"_ She sighed in defeat.

"O-ok." She looked at Rindie one more time, "I-I'll s-see you l-later then, R-Rindie… B-bye." She waved, oblivious to the fact that Rindie was currently blind.

"What homework do you have?" Rindie asked, less of a monotone and a small smile on their face. "Maybe I can help ya?" Verdana's sockets opened a bit wider, filling with hope.

"R-really?!" She asked in surprise, "W-well, I have m-mostly h-history and a b-bit of m-math."

"Math will be easy for me, you focus on History," Rindie said with a smile. They got up, and seemed to be hopping lightly to some beat.

Sans narrowed his sockets a bit at the two of them, " _wait a moment, isn't that cheating?"_

"Like people in real life don't?" Rindie asked without missing a beat, turning their head to the older than Verdana skeleton. "And besides, technically she's also a alt me, so it's not cheating if you help yourself."

Sans chuckled and shrugged lazily, " _welp, can't argue with that logic."_ He said, not putting up any sort of fight. He looked at Verdana and smiled, " _hey sis, mind doin me a favor? if g calls, tell him i'm helping ya with homework."_ She nodded, making Sans smile a bit wider before crashing on the now-vacant couch as he promptly fell asleep.

Rindie shook their head, before the two went upstairs.

* * *

Much later that evening, after Verdana's homework was completely finished and the other two skeletons arrived home, they all gathered at the dinner table to enjoy a meal made by none other than the great Papyrus. Having been on the surface for so long, and now working for Grillby, his cooking skills had increased considerably. Not only was his famous pasta edible, but it was now simply divine. Sans couldn't be prouder of his little bro.

After dinner, Papyrus shot up from the table and ran upstairs without taking his empty plate to the sink, surprising everyone. Papyrus had never left a dirty dish on the table before. Everyone's questions were answered when he returned holding two large presents, held within two large white boxes and tied with an orange bow. He promptly handed one to Rindie and one to Verdana.

"W-what's th-this Pap?" Verdana asked in confusion. Last she checked, it was neither her (unknown) birthday, nor was it Christmas.

Papyrus' grin was huge as he currently wore his Battle Body, "THIS, SISTER, IS A PRESENT FOR YOU, AND A PRESENT FOR RINDIE!" Verdana smiled at her brother before opening her present first. Her jaw fell open upon seeing the contents.

Verdana reached in and pulled out a custom-made Battle Body of her own, made by Papyrus. Her new set of armor was made the perfect size for her, looking similar in build to Papyrus'. The chestplate was mostly a light shade of blue, with a golden/yellow 'V' sewed onto the front of it like a badge and golden accents at the ends of the sleeves and collar. The lower, leggings part of it was also light blue, with golden accents. Accompanying the set of armor was a pair of purple boots and purple gloves, matching her scarf perfectly.

As she lifted it up and took in the whole thing, she began to tear up a bit in joy, finally getting a Battle Body just like her cool brother. Papyrus quickly ran over to her and wrapped her into a hug, "DO NOT CRY SIS! THE GREAT PAPYRUS DID HIS BEST!" She giggled a bit as she held him, telling him over and over again 'thank you'.

"I-i-it' w-wonderful, P-pap," She said after finishing her 'thank you' spiel, smiling up at him. He grinned back and nodded, "WELL, YOU ARE WELCOME. I TOLD YOU AWHILE BACK THAT I'D MAKE YOU ONE, AND THE GREAT PAPYRUS ALWAYS KEEPS HIS WORD! NYEH HEH HEH!"

" _wow, you're so cool bro."_ Sans added, smiling at the display. After that, Papyrus turned toward Rindie, watching them before they opened their gift.

"Someone describe it for me, please? Still blind. Haven't found a song that has 'see' enough in it to gimme my sight back," They said.

Papyrus quickly agreed, "OF COURSE I WILL! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WOULD DO ANYTHING TO HELP A FRIEND IN NEED!" He promptly declared. As soon as Rindie opened the gift box, Papyrus began to describe it as best as he could for them.

"ALAS, YOU ARE SMITTEN WITH THE ELOQUENT DESIGN OF THE BATTLE BODY PROVIDED TO YOU BY ONLY THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS AND COOL SEWER IN ALL THE LAND: THE GREAT PAPYRUS. YOU OBSERVE THE PERFECTLY SIZED CHESTPLATE, DESIGNED FOR MAXIMUM COMFORT AND DEFENSIVE CAPABILITIES. THE CHESTPLATE, ITSELF, IS WHITE, LIKE MINE, BUT IS ACCENTED WITH A DARK BLACK FABRIC. THE SLEEVES OF WHICH REACH HALFWAY TO YOUR ELBOWS. ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE FRONT OF THE CHESTPLATE IS A SOUL, COLORED HALF WHITE AND HALF BLACK, WITH A RED 'R' SEWN INTO THE CENTER OF IT."

"NEXT, YOU OBSERVE THE WELL CONSTRUCTED LEGGINGS. MADE FROM THE SAME DURABLE-YET-COMFORTABLE MATERIAL AS THE CHESTPLATE, IT IS, TOO, DESIGNED PERFECTLY FOR YOUR FORM. IT IS BLACK, ACCENTED WITH WHITE, WHICH IS THE REVERSE OF THE CHESTPLATE, IN CASE YOU WEREN'T PAYING ATTENTION. IN ADDITION TO THESE TWO FINELY CRAFTED PIECES OF ARMOR, YOU ARE GIFTED WITH A CRIMSON RED PAIR OF BOOTS AND GLOVES, PERFECT FOR COLD WEATHER. FINALLY, YOU SEE THE SOFTEST AND MOST AMAZING CRIMSON SCARF IN ALL OF EXISTENCE, WHICH WOULD LOOK ALMOST AS COOL AS MY ORANGE ONE WHEN IT FLUTTERS IN THE BREEZE." Papyrus finished proudly as Rindie held said Battle Body in their hands.

"Thanks Pap," Rindie said with a smile. "Um… can someone help me put this stuff on right?" Papyrus ran over to him in a heartbeat, helping Rindie into the newly crafted Battle Body, showing them how to put it on and where the hidden zippers and buttons were. After a few moments, Rindie was wearing their full Battle Body, while Verdana was also wearing hers now too.

Gaster smiled warmly at them, " _ **Wow Papyrus, you did an amazing job. They both look cool, just like you."**_

"Comfy…" Rindie mumbled, smiling and snuggling into the clothing.

"Y-yeah…" Verdana agreed.

Papyrus flushed a bit at all of the compliments, "WOWIE! THANKS EVERYONE! I'M GLAD YOU LIKE IT!" He told them.

" _so cool…"_ Sans said quietly from his seat.

As the rest of the evening flew by, Verdana was put to bed in preparation for school the next day, and Sans turned in for the night as well, determined to get as much sleep as possible to 'prepare him for a hard day of napping'. Gaster, knowing now about Rindie's full limitations, shortcutted them back to the Lab and into their room.

" _ **I hope this room has been comfortable enough for you."**_ Gaster said, smiling at them.

"Yeah, it's been fine!" Rindie assured, still in the battle body. They used their stick, navigating to their bed and climbing into it, changing their song to a sleepy one, making them yawn.

Gaster smiled and nodded, " _ **Good. Well, I will see you in the morning then. If you need anything, send me a call. Goodnight Rindie."**_ He said before teleporting about of the room.

Rindie curled up in the bed, pulling the covers over themself and falling asleep.

* * *

A loud alarm woke Rindie from their slumber. The noise echoing throughout the entire lab. As they returned to consciousness, they could hear an automated voice over the speakers repeat the same phrase over and over again with the alarm.

" _WARNING. FOREIGN ENTITY DETECTED. MAGICAL INHIBITORS: ONLINE. ARTIFICIAL BARRIER: ONLINE."_

Rindie jolted up. Biting down a curse, they reached into the battle body's pockets and pressed the middle button down, speed dialing Gaster. It only rang once before he answered.

" _ **Hello? Rindie? Do you need anything?"**_ He asked.

"Something's entering the lab!" Rindie shouted, their music more their 'general' song, a mix up of others that let them feel whatever was appropriate at the cost of no magic. Gaster remained silent for a moment, hearing the warning through the speaker due to its loudness.

" _ **Sans and I will be there in a few minutes. The magical inhibitors were designed to block all shortcuts and teleportation in case someone came into the timeline with that ability. Luckily, if everything is online, whoever it is will be trapped until we determine if they are friend or foe."**_ Gaster told them before shouting something away from the speaker, likely towards Sans.

"Should I just wait in my room?" Rindie asked. Usually, they'd go in guns blazing, but that was when they had literally infinite power.

Gaster responded, " _ **That'd be my preference. However, whoever it is should be contained, so it should be safe to check on them if you wanted to."**_ He shouted to Sans again before coming back to the speaker, " _ **We'll be there in a few minutes. Thanks for calling Rindie."**_ He said before hanging up.

Rindie, still in their battle body, got up and grabbed their walking stick. They went to the room the intruder should be in, their iPod ready to be switched to a more… violent track at any second. Upon entering the main lab, the automatic warning system dialed it down a bit, lowering the message's and the alarm's volume. Even though Rindie was still blind, they could feel the energy coming off of the artificially constructed barrier before them. The intruder noticed Rindie's presence after a moment of talking to themself.

"Dammit Gaster." He muttered in annoyance before noticing Rindie, "Ahh, if it isn't Rindie, the great and powerful."

"I never approved of that name. Not at all." Rindie mumbled. "Also, I can't see you right now. Who are you?"

He chuckled at Rindie's disapproval before responding, "Ahh, that's right… you never came to my timeline. My name is Alex… but I usually go by the name Alric. Some people refer to me as 'The Judge', but it's matters little to me." They answered. Alric wore a plain black t-shirt and beige colored shorts, yet wore no form of footwear. His short, brown hair complimented his glowing, golden irises as he watched Rindie carefully.

"Oh… did yours need help? I'm sorry if I didn't get to it. I tried being everywhere before, but that just me not any help to anyone," Rindie said.

Alric shrugged, "It matters not in the end. You are not the one I hold responsible for my world's death." He said bitterly.

Rindie felt bad at this. If they were at full power, they could help Alric out, but as they are… they couldn't. "Oh…" They said lamely, slumping sadly.

He sighed after a moment, "I blame Error for it." He finally said, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth by simply uttering his name. After a moment, he spoke again, "So, you should turn off the barrier and magical inhibitors for me…"

"Um… I am blind. I cannot see the correct buttons for that," Rindie said, rubbing the back of their head sheepishly. Knowing they were telling the truth, Alric simply slumped down and sat on the small spot on the floor provided for him by the barrier.

"Then I guess I'll have to wait for Doctor Wing Ding to get here…" He said, rolling his eyes.

"Wing Dingaling," Rindie chuckled. Alric couldn't help it and chuckled along with Rindie as they waited for Dr. Gaster. Sure, Gaster's upgrades had made his entry as unsmooth as possible, and it DID ruin the fabulous entrance he had planned to make, but there was still an upside to all of this… Error Sans hadn't arrived here yet…

Rindie, deciding to catch up on their sleep, made their scarf into a impromptu pillow, settling it down bundled up and laying on it with the side of their head not occupied with a headphone, turning on their sleep music again and soon falling asleep.

Alric chuckled upon seeing Rindie sleeping like that. It reminded him a bit of himself. They both appeared to be little more than teenagers… but both had been through far more than children should have been put through. He simply kicked back and waited, knowing there was nothing he could do to speed up the process.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **And thus, another story arc is born, with the introduction of Alric the Judge, and Error Sans starting to make his way towards the timeline. Hope you liked the beginning of the arc, and I hope everyone enjoys what comes next.**_

 _ **Shoutout to**_ _ **Razaraga**_ _**for the idea, inclusion, and writing of Rindie and Verdana.**_

 _ **Second shoutout to**_ _ **alextisgr8**_ _**for the idea and inclusion of Alric.**_

 _ **#CuteSleepyRindie**_

 _ **#BattleBodyRindie**_

 _ **Stay Determined. Stay Pure. And try to not become filled with Apathy. It's not too fun.**_

 _ **-swrWriter**_


	27. The Judge Arrives

Gaster arrived to see all of his Multiversal Intrusion Failsafes functioning at full capacity. After the fiasco with Betty, he had made sure to invest plenty of time and energy into preparing for an intrusion. What he didn't expect to find, however, was Rindie curled up in a ball on the floor sleeping. As he approached the sleeping form, he finally saw the person trapped inside his… well, trap.

The kid looked to be only about fifteen, however he knew better than to think they would be innocent just because of their age. (Thanks again, Betty!) He wore a black shirt, beige shorts, and no shoes, with his short brown hair nicely combed over to the side as he sat with his legs crossed on the floor. The kid stared deeply into Gaster's sockets with his glowing golden eyes, unnerving the doctor a bit.

Rindie suddenly let a little whimper out. The floor was not a good place for peaceful dreams. Gaster walked over and picked them up gently, all while being watched closely by the kid.

"Sup Wing Ding." He said from within the barrier, smirking at the doctor. He hadn't been called that in centuries… at the least. He narrowed his sockets the him, unwilling to give him a remark, before returning his attention to Rindie. It seemed he did so just in time, because for a brief second, their form _shimmered_.

What he saw was horrific. From Rindie's exposed stomach, he saw them suddenly go from 'well fed' to 'about to starve', with bits of skin and flesh missing. This lasted only a moment before returning to 'normal'. Gaster gently began shaking Rindie awake, before their form decided to go for round two.

" _ **Wake up Rindie."**_ He whispered. Rindie woke up, seeming more tired that when they went to sleep. Gaster sighed in relief and smiled warmly at Rindie for a moment, before he was interrupted with the child behind him clearing his throat.

"Hey, W. D. Wanna let me outta here now?" The child said in annoyance.

Gaster narrowed his sockets at him before putting Rindie back down on their feet, " _ **I'm sorry, whoever-you-are, but I won't just 'let you out' just because you asked."**_

Sans finally walked in, smiling, " _yeah. if we did that, we'd be breaking policy, and then everyone would try to ask nicely to get out."_

Alric simply crossed his arms in annoyance, but couldn't help the small smile that formed when he saw Sans, "C'mon, I'll be good. Scout's honor." He tried, raising his right arm up beside him while putting the other over his chest.

Gaster continued to remain unamused, " _ **First of all, you look nothing like a 'scout'. Second of all, I do not believe that if you were, we'd be required to let you out. And finally, we don't know anything about you, much less if we should trust you."**_

Sans nodded, remaining serious, " _yeah buddy. you're the one who broke into our timeline. most people doing that these days had pretty poor intentions."_

Alric crossed his arms, "Fine. My name is Alric. Happy?"

" _ **Why did you come here?"**_

"What is this, twenty questions?"

Gaster kept his sockets trained on him, " _ **Why did you come to this world?"**_

Seeing no alternative, Alric gave in, "Fine. If you must know, I came here because of Alex." He finally admitted. They all paused for a moment to take this in, still unsure if letting him out of his containment would be a good idea. Finally, Sans broke the silence.

" _well, alex is a pretty popular guy, but that still doesn't explain much."_ He said, walking over toward the controls of the containment barrier and inhibitors.

" _ **Why did you come for Alex? For Rindie, I'd understand considering their power… but Alex? What makes him your target?"**_

Before Alric could respond, Sans turned on yet another device, causing the automated voice to speak once more. "SCANNING FOREIGN ENTITY. PLEASE STAND BY FOR STAT ANALYSIS." A moment later, the results were heard by everyone, causing silence.

*SUBJECT-CHECK: ALRIC LV 85

*SOUL TRAIT: ERROR. MULTIPLE TRAITS DETECTED

*PRIMARY TRAIT: JUSTICE. SECONDARY TRAITS: TWO UNKNOWN TRAITS DETECTED.

Sans' smile faltered for a moment, taking a step away from the console to look at Alric. Gaster leaned in as the machine effortlessly pulled his soul from his chest to allow everyone to see it. It was primarily yellow, the color of Justice. However, Alric's SOUL also had a dark, crimson outline to it, with a hint of light green mixed in with the yellow. There were also the telltale signs of LV, with a small black cloud behind the soul, threatening to absorb fully into it, but is prevented from doing so.

Gaster narrowed his sockets at Alric after examining his SOUL. " _ **So, you have several timelines worth of LOVE and you contain two foreign Soul Traits. Mind giving us a reason we can trust you?"**_

"C'mon guys, I'm not the biggest threat here." Alric started with a small smile. He then motioned toward Rindie with his head, "The great and powerful Rindie, here, will vouch for me, right Rindie? Old buddy, old pal." He finished, saying the last part with a half pleading, half confident smile. Gaster turned toward Rindie with a bit of confusion.

Rindie just looked confused, not getting the hint he was dropping due to their tiredness. They were really hating their… depowered state.

Gaster narrowed his sockets once more at Alric, as his smile faded and he hung his head in defeat. After a moment, Alric looked back up and shrugged, "Meh, figured it wouldn't be easy with you all. Especially after that fiasco with Betty, amiright?"

Sans pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it, before holding it so Alric could see, " _so, ima go out on a limb and say you were the one who left me this."_ Alric only needed to look at it for a moment before he smirked and nodded. Gaster took the note from Sans and read it real quick before turning his angered expression toward Sans.

" _ **Sans. Did you really hide this from me?"**_ Sans smiled awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck.

" _heh, my bad g."_ Gaster frowned and shook his head, silently telling Sans that they'd discuss this later, before turning back to Alric.

" _ **So, you've been watching us?"**_ Alric nodded. " _ **Why'd you wait until now to show yourself and come here?"**_

Alric smirked a bit before shrugging, "Figured you all had everything under control." Then, he nodded over towards Rindie, "Plus, with the 'great and powerful' over there with you, I figured there'd be no problem." Gaster visibly showed that he disapproved of that answer.

" _ **So, why now?"**_

"Well, now that you've attracted Error…" Alric visible cringed when he said the name, "... I figured you could use some help. Error is not someone to be taken lightly. I should know..." He paused, frowning towards the ground for a moment before looking back up, "And I think Alex could be the key to finally ending his miserable existence, finally bringing Justice and Vengeance to the multiverse for his sins." He finished proudly.

Gaster turned toward Rindie, noticing they were zoning in and out. He snapped them out of whatever daze they were in, " _ **Rindie, what do you know about this 'Error'? Is what he says true?"**_

"Error is… what happened to me unwillingly, be on a percentage lower and willing," Rindie said carefully. What they meant was essentially was Error had about… a percent of their usual max power. That was still a _lot_.

Gaster nodded, " _ **Hmm, seems dangerously powerful. However, I do not believe we need Alric's help with this matter."**_

Alric visible flinched for a moment before becoming enraged, "Don't you dare think you can do this! It doesn't matter if Rindie is powerful enough for this! This is MY fight! I WILL be the one to destroy that sorry excuse of a Sans!" Alric's eyes began to glow brighter as he was enraged. For a split second, there was a flash of blue in his left eye. Yellow magic began to form around him despite the inhibitors acting upon him. Although the magic wouldn't be as strong because of the inhibitors, Gaster knew that it'd still be dangerous.

"Let him," Rindie said simply.

Gaster looked at Rindie for a moment in shock, " _ **Really? After learning about these new traits and his LV?"**_

Alric interrupted, "Yeah, the LV that sits at a mere fraction of theirs!" He said, pointing at Rindie in anger. Gaster sighed in defeat when he mentioned that, realizing that LV didn't always mean that someone was evil.

Sans took a step forward, " _how about this? you explain your mission and who you are, and then we'll bring down the failsafes and let you out."_ Gaster turned to Sans in shock before Alric responded.

"Is this an agreement, or a promise Sans?" He asked after taking a deep breath, his eyes no longer glowing as brightly as before as his anger decreased.

Sans shrugged, " _it's a promise if you happen to be telling the truth about all of this."_

Alric nodded after a moment, "Fine, I guess I do owe you all some sort of explanation…" Alric sat back down in the small space provided and begun to tell his tale.

"So, my world was fairly normal. Or, at least it seemed that way to me. I fell into Mt. Ebott, met the monsters, broke the barrier, made it to the surface; all that stuff. As I relaxed on the surface with everyone, Error arrived one day, saying I was an 'Anomaly', and an 'Error in the multiverse that needed to be corrected'. Soon enough, everything about my world was gone except myself. It wasn't until after everything happened that I realized why…

"Normally, Frisk would have done everything with their Determination SOUL, but I took their place in my timeline. And my soul wasn't even just Justice. It also had Rage, which is crimson, and Selflessness, which was light green…

"Anyway, soon after the world was 'corrected', or destroyed, I awoke in another timeline, alone. There, I learned the true power of my SOUL. After mastering my new-found power, I followed Error, trying desperately to get to him and destroy him… but I wasn't strong enough…"

When they paused, Gaster frowned, " _ **And that was where the LOVE came in, didn't it?"**_

Alric frowned and sighed, "Back in my original timeline, Sans had taught me about his role as the Judge. In the final days of the timeline, he passed on the role to me, as he laid in my arms, turning to dust. I took it seriously as I followed Error. After my near second-death experience with him, I began to judge a few different worlds. Mostly ones where all that remained was Chara, the demon. I destroyed several of them, gaining me the LOVE, and hopefully the strength, to destroy Error…"

Sans didn't like hearing about his own death, " _so, how'd that work out for ya, buddy?"_

Alric looked down for a moment, "Shortly after gaining this LOVE, Error made an agreement with another Sans: Ink Sans, to stop the destruction. After that, he disappeared, returning to wherever he originated. But, I knew he couldn't keep away from his 'duty'; that he'd eventually return… and he did. Which leads to the present." Alric finished, finally looking up at the three of them.

"You see Rindie? Not all of us have had a 'happy ending'. As much as you hate on Core Frisk for what they do, not everyone can be saved, regardless of who you are..." He added.

"Not in this multiverse," Rindie said vaguely.

Ignoring their vague response, Alric looked up and made eye contact with Sans, "So, can I be let out now?"

Gaster took a step forward and nodded, " _ **We will let you out, but-"**_

Alric interrupted, "Yeah, yeah, but I have to listen to what you say, and not start using too much power or showing myself to everyone. I've heard this speech enough times." Gaster frowned before nodding at Sans, silently telling him to deactivate the inhibitors and barrier. After a moment, it all deactivated, freeing Alric.

He hopped up from his spot on the floor and smiled, "About damn time. Now, where's Alex?"

Gaster continued to frown, " _ **As you should know, he's asleep. Just like we all were until you decided to arrive here unannounced."**_

Alric crossed his arms, "Well, Sherlock, your magical inhibitors had the wonderful effect of inhibiting my freakin' magic, so I couldn't see anything more than what was in front of me with my own eyes." He accentuated his point by taking a hand and waving it in front of his face.

Rindie let out a soft snore. Looks like they fell asleep. Gaster smiled gently before walking over and picking Rindie up to take them back to their room. He turned toward Alric, " _ **Why don't you spend the night here? Tomorrow afternoon, Alex and his siblings will be out of school and you can see him then."**_

Alric shrugged, "Fine by me." He answered, "I'm not much for sleep at the moment, so I'll just hang out in the break room, if that's ok with you." Gaster nodded. "Thanks Wing Ding, see ya tomorrow." He said before leaving toward that room. Gaster's sockets narrowed for the millionth time that evening at that nickname.

Finally, Gaster brought Rindie back to their room and laid them down in the bed. He exited the room after a moment to find Sans doing something at a monitor.

" _ **Sans, what are you doing?"**_

Sans turned back to look at Gaster for a moment before turning back and finishing his work. His expression was serious, alarming Gaster a bit. Finally, Sans spoke as he continued, " _all this talk about 'error me' got me thinking. if this kid easily made it here, then error will likely be coming soon. so, i'm reactivating the barrier while modifying the output."_

Gaster looked over Sans' shoulder to see what he was doing exactly, and nodded, " _ **Ahh, I see. You're using the barrier to cover the entrance into the timeline."**_

Sans nodded as he finished putting in the final commands, " _yeah. the QMA made a weakening in the timeline, making this the easiest and default way into this world. but, if i set up the barrier correctly, it could close the hole, making entrance much more difficult. it should, at least, buy us some time while we figure everything out."_ After that, Sans finally finished the calibrations.

" _ **Smart thinking son. Now, why don't we head back home and try to get at least some sleep."**_ He said, smiling gently at Sans.

Sans smirked and chuckled, " _heh, now you're speaking my language. race ya home."_ No sooner did Sans say that, he vanished from the lab to his bed. Gaster chuckled before leaving himself. He'd need all the sleep he could get. He knew that he might not have the chance when Error shows up.

* * *

The rest of the night went by without incident. Sans took Verdana to school the next morning, Gaster and Alphys arrived at the lab at Sunrise, and Rindie didn't wake until the next morning. Rindie awoke to the sensation that they were being watched. Said watched was none other than Alric, as he sat in a chair near the door. He hadn't said a word the entire time, but Rindie quickly knew he was there.

"Do you usually watch what looks like children as they sleep?" Rindie asked tiredly, their sleeping track still on.

Alric chuckled, "Hehe, guess I'm not as sneaky as I used to be." He said before continuing, "It's just weird. You're so weird when your power is gone. Not so 'great and powerful' in this state. Hehe." He stated, matter-of-factly.

Rindie shrugged, putting their normal track on. "Yeah… I am not use to feeling so… weak." They said.

Alric nodded and chuckled some more, "Well, welcome to the club Rindie. Some of us actually require food and sleep to function." He said, proving his point by taking a large, loud bite out of an apple.

"I used to too. It got in the way too much," Rindie replied simply, shrugging as they bounced a bit in place. "Now I'm hungry, so I'm going to go get something to eat," They said, moving to head to the kitchen. As they got up, Alric stood up as well and followed them out the door, into the main lab. As Rindie went into the break room, Alric stayed behind in the main lab, noticing Alphys working on something, allowing Rindie to leave his presence behind.

The rest of the morning and afternoon was fairly uneventful. Alric kept himself inside the lab all day, interacting with Gaster, Alphys and Rindie off and on. Occasionally, Alric would bother them with joking and a few small pranks here and there. Any pranks on Rindie were discouraged, because while they couldn't just make stuff anymore… their inventory made up for that in full. For the most part, Alric maintained calm and kept his shenanigans to a minimum. However, they could all see that a Sans of some sort had influenced them in the past.

Finally, the afternoon was interrupted by the arrival for five children and their leader: Sans. They all shortcutted right behind Alphys, with Chara taking initiative.

"Boo!" Chara said with a huge smile.

Alphys' response was to jump as high as she could(and then some) in the air, before turning around to the six of them with a red face, "W-wh-what th-the heck?!" She said as she tried to steady her breathing from the surprising surprise. Sans, Chara, and Asriel couldn't help but lose it and fall onto the ground in laughter. Frisk and Alex chuckled a bit too, before looking a bit apologetic to the lizard. Verdana also seemed apologetic for her girlfriend's and brother's pranks.

"Gr-gr-great! M-more p-pranks today…" Alphys said in annoyance before walking off to work on something else, elsewhere. As they all seemed to calm down, Sans thought about what she said for a moment before looking around for Alric.

" _more pranks, huh? guess the new guy's into pranks too."_ He added with a smirk. After a moment, Rindie appeared. " _heya rind, where's alric?"_ He asked.

Rindie shrugged. "I wasn't watching him," They said simply. "No sight."

" _heh, guess they got outta sight."_ Sans said with a chuckle, earning several groans and giggles from the surrounding kids.

Alric suddenly walked out of the break room, smirking to himself, "Can't you _see_ that vision jokes are overused. _Iris_ you'd think of something more original."

"If I actually cared, I might be mad you're all making fun of a blind child essentially," Rindie commented, arms crossed. Alric couldn't take them seriously, laughing a bit at their displeasure.

Sans, instead, nodded and shrugged, " _you know what pal? just for you, i'll find some different material."_ He said.

Rindie rolled their orbs under their eyelids. "I mean, if you did that out with the humans, and near the wrong ones, they can think you're an insensitive jerk, or even claim all monsters are. I'm bringing it up now so you don't get hurt later. And yes, that has happened before, sometimes whole cult like groups get started for killing monsters over it" Rindie clarified.

" _don't worry about me, rind. i might seem lazy, but i do actually care about my future."_

Alric finally came forward towards them all, smiling when he saw Alex, standing next to Frisk in a cute fashion, making him smile. Sans gasped in fake shock, " _oh, that's right."_ He turned around to face the kids, " _this here is alric. don't judge the judge too harshly though. he might seem cold, but it's just ice."_ He said, chuckling again and smirking widely at his own puns.

Alric rolled their eyes and smiled. Boy did he miss these good times in his old world. Verdana stepped forward first, "H-h-hi Alric." She said shyly. Alric couldn't help the smile on his face as it grew. She was cuter up close than when he saw her from the outside of the timeline. Asriel, Alex, and Frisk all introduced themselves as well, before Chara began. Having been behind Sans the entire time, due to his position and being crammed between Asriel and Frisk, she took a step forward into view.

"Greetings Alric. I'm Chara." She said with a friendly smile, her red eyes showing clearly.

Unfortunately, Alric didn't see her smile as friendly. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed before glowing a harsh, bright golden color as he stared at Chara. Anger and rage began to flow throughout him upon seeing the usual demon simply smile at him, reminding him of the way they'd smile before they slashed at him with the Real Knife. He could feel his LV take over a bit.

Before Chara could react, Alric sent his hand forward towards her, sending a narrow beam of black magic towards her, impacting her in the chest and pushing her against the opposite wall, holding her there. The magic began to coil around her now visible soul.

Rindie put a rather aggressive track on, forming some sharp spikes with their magic and pressing one on the back of his neck. Alric did not like the feeling on their neck. In response, their left hand held Chara in place, while a golden, magical revolver appeared in his right hand. He grabbed it by the barrel before using the butt of the gun to smash the spike pressing against him. Afterwards, he quickly spun the gun around and held it normally, ready to fire it.

Before he could get any further, his SOUL was blasted with a beam of silver energy, causing him to stumble a bit. He turned in anger, to see Alex standing there with his arms stretched out towards him. His Purity Soul on display.

Verdana had several of her blasters ready to fire as well. The Judge had made a very bad mistake. After staring at Alex's SOUL for a moment, he froze in place. His revolver disintegrated and disappeared, and the black magic holding Chara weakened to the point that it could no longer hold Chara in place. He took a few deep breaths before finally retracting the black tendril of magic from Chara's SOUL.

Looking around, Alric didn't seem particularly pleased by the sights. Many blasters from Gaster, Sans, and Verdana filled the lab, aimed at him. Alex had his SOUL out, ready to send another beam at him. Frisk stood there, holding a large staff of red energy. Chara had now summoned countless red knifes, floating between her and Alric. Alphys was preparing to move the barrier back around Alric to trap him. And finally, Rindie had dark grey spikes ready to impale him at a command.

As he calmed back down, Alric's eyes faded to their normal brightness as he held both hands up as a sign of surrender. He mentally cursed himself for his grave error. Chara walked back over to the group as she moved her knives to now encircle Alric. Her expression said it all, she was ready to impale her assaulter in a heartbeat.

Finally, Alric spoke, "So… th-this is awkward…" His tone wavering greatly, losing its normal confidence as he tried to blow it off as a joke.

"Awkward… AWKWARD?!" Chara began, shouting and sending her knives against Alric. They did not puncture his skin, but threatened to do so if he so much as flinched. "What the actual FUCK was THAT!? I FREAKING say hi, and you respond with trying to kill me?!"

"I. I didn't-" Alric was quickly interrupted.

"You DIDN'T WHAT?! THINK I'D SURVIVE THE FIRST BLOW?!" Chara continued, pressing the knives a bit more against Alric, causing his HP to begin to drop. This, unfortunately, caused his eyes to glow golden once more, before his revolver reappeared in his hand. In one swift movement, he shot Chara with a magical, purple bullet.

The knives instantly disappeared as she fell to the ground, writhing in pain as a harsh purple flame began to burn over the impact wound of the bullet. Everyone knew what that meant: KARMA. In shock, his revolver once again disappeared. Everyone else, however, didn't really care that he retracted his weapon again.

Verdana, without hesitation, let one of her blasters fire a purple beam at Alric, enveloping him in a taste of KARMA as well. Although, it was much worse for him considering his much higher LV.

Rindie allowed four of their spikes to impale him, at the arms and feet to remove his mobility. Turning the aggressive song off in favor of the Song of Healing from LOZ, their hands glowing green as they directed the healing onto Chara. Asriel, Alex, and Frisk were all helping Chara back to her feet as the purple flame died down due to Rindie's healing. However, the pain of the flame and from the earlier attack, caused her to fall unconscious. Verdana quickly ran over to check on Chara as she left Varela to watch Alric.

Alric stood in place, looking at where they were stabbed through as their whole body was aflame. He did everything in his power to avoid yelling out in pain as the flames eventually died down. He summoned his HP forward to see the stats of it now that the flames had stopped. His HP was now lower than normal. He used a small amount of his magic to make his HP a bit higher, restoring his HP slightly despite not being proficient at healing magic. Despite now having a slightly higher HP, he began to visibly shake. Not from pain or fear, rather from embarrassment.

Alric silently cursed himself for being stupid and not realizing it sooner. A second later, he disappeared from view, leaving the lab through a shortcut of his own. Gaster turned to Alphys, " _ **Doctor Alphys, track him down."**_ She nodded as she began to look through the energy readings of this timeline to try to pinpoint the exit point of the shortcut. Everyone else was paying attention to Alric's previous position or Chara.

Rindie finished their healing… then fell to the side, tired. Note to self, energy stores a lot lower than they were used to. Gaster managed to catch Rindie with blue magic before they hit their head on the ground, before pulling them to his arms. Together, they all brought Chara and Rindie to the break room, setting them on the couches to let them rest. Verdana sat next to Chara and held her head in her lap as she looked at her in worry.

As everyone had a moment of silence after that whole ordeal, Alex broke the silence. "So… who was that, again?" He asked, confused by how everything had just played out.

Gaster looked at Verdana and Chara with worry, frowning. He sighed, " _ **Alric came here for you, apparently, Alex. He wanted to help us stop someone named 'Error' from destroying the timeline. But, as I suspected last night, he's a bit more unstable than he lets on."**_

Sans' smile was at a low point, " _here i thought someone with that sort of humor was trustworthy. heh, guess humor as a way to judge someone isn't always effective."_

Verdana, still holding Chara closely, looked over at Rindie, "A-Are y-y-you ok R-Rindie?" She asked, worried a bit about them too.

"Y-yeah… low… on… e-energy…" Rindie managed to get out. Their form seemed to shimmer for a second, before solidifying. Gaster frowned before picking Rindie up once more.

" _ **Rindie, I believe it'd be in your best interest if you rested in your room for a while."**_ Gaster told them as he held them in his arms. Rindie nodded, closing their eyes a little tighter and putting their sleep track on. Gaster smiled at their agreement, before teleporting to Rindie's room and leaving them on their bed. He quickly left them to give them some quiet time to sleep.

Rindie, now alone in their room, laid there for a moment. In the distance, outside of their room, they heard sounds of a child sobbing a bit. Rindie frowned. Gathering what little DT they could, they grabbed their walking stick and used it as a cane to support their tired form as they followed the sound of the sobbing.

Eventually, they were led down the nearby staircase into the basement level. There, Rindie found themself much closer to the source. Nearby, Alric sat, his sobbing slowing down as they sat, firing their magical revolver at a nearby training dummy. If Alric noticed Rindie's presence, he ignored them as he continued.

Rindie went over. "You… okay?" They mumbled.

Alric deeply sighed, firing another shot at the dummy before responding, "You here to finish me off?" He asked. Any and all forms of confidence were gone from his voice.

"No, that… situation was… heated," Rindie said simply, refusing to show how tired they were. "I understand you… may… have some… trauma with… Charas…"

Another shot from his revolver never came as Alric sat it down beside him, "You know… I saw you help Alex through that Genocide… I've seen you deal with many different timelines… But one thing I did that you never did… I gained my LOVE voluntarily. I chose to kill those that were Judged. They deserved it, yes… but it changes you…" He said sadly, before pausing to look at the ceiling for a moment.

"You know… I haven't been to a peaceful timeline with a peaceful Chara or peaceful Sans since mine was destroyed. Every Chara I've met had given me that same smile… before they tried to carve their name onto my chest…" He finished for a moment.

"Majority… believe… Chara… is evil… in… the prime… makes… au… evil… more… frequent," Rindie said slowly, feeling their energy barely there. Alric could hear that Rindie was becoming more and more tired.

He sighed, "I just… I really…" Alric couldn't help it as tears formed in their eyes, "I just want my family back… I just want no one else to feel my pain…" He said sadly.

"Promise… full power… restore," Rindie mumbled tiredly, struggling to stand now. Alric couldn't help the weak smile that formed.

"Don't… don't worry about that right now… restoring is useless with Error still in existence." Alric put a hand on Rindie's shoulder before teleporting them both back into Rindie's room, before leading Rindie back to their bed.

"Restore… memories… make… revive… memories… repeat…" Rindie mumbled, climbing into bed.

Alric nodded, looking away from Rindie in shame as they went back to bed. Before they slipped back into their slumber, Alric whispered to them, "I… I just hope they'll forgive me for that… outburst…" Alric then disappeared, hiding in the basement for the time being. Not wanting to be too far from them, but not wanting to be right next to them either.

Guess he'd have to wait until later to figure this all out. What a wonderful introduction, he'd made for himself…

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **404 incoming...**_

 _ **The Judge arrives, just ahead of Error Sans. Luckily, Sans' quick thinking might buy them a chapter or two of time. Can Alric repair the damage he'd done in that heated moment? Will Rindie have the energy to help defeat Error? Will Sans have a meltdown upon seeing his double? Who knows?**_

 _ **Hope everyone enjoyed part one of the Error Arc. Let us know how it turned out! Thanks for reading.**_

 _ **-swrWriter**_


	28. And You will be Judged

**_Quick note before I start! I've been really busy preparing from a little thing called Irma. As such, there may or may not be a delay on the next chapter's upload. I apologize in advance if that is the case, but I won't really be able to do much about it other than hope... Now, without further adieu, here's the next chapter!_**

* * *

Needless to say, Asgore and Toriel were not happy that another incident involving Gaster and their children had occurred not less than a week after the previous fiasco. Asgore personally went down to the lab the next day with the kids to discuss the matter in person. As Asgore was talking to Gaster in a side room, Rindie was waking up again after sleeping through the rest of the previous day. Despite just waking up, they knew Alric was likely still in the basement, hiding.

They decided to go check on him. Getting up, they started walking, glad they had the energy to move now. As they walked, they thought on how switched tracks from one thing to it's opposite had drained them and thought on ways to work around it.

Upon reaching the basement, they found Alric sitting down, ignoring the angry shouts of Chara as she yelled at him about the events of yesterday. The four Dreemurr kids were all down there, having discovered him after coming down to test more of their magic. Verdana was down there too, looking at him with an angry expression as well. It was surprising to see that there was no violence taking place… that is, until Rindie noticed the yellow shield around Alric and the glowing red knife in Chara's hands.

Rindie snuck up behind Chara by simply walking silently, and knocked the knife out of her hands. "You're not helping anything with that," They said simply. The shock and surprise of this caused the knife to disintegrate upon hitting the ground. "He has only met Genocide versions of you since his timeline was destroyed. You will need to forgive him if that gives a little trauma to a person."

Chara remained uncharacteristically silent at this before sighing in defeat and taking a step to the side. Alric looked up to see Rindie and smiled gently after a moment.

"S-so, why did he come here, then?" Alex asked, "If he had only met Genocide versions of everyone, why choose now to come to a peaceful one?"

"He needs a Purity SOUL to help defeat Error. I would offer to help him out instead, but I do not possess the energy to fight Error." Rindie said calmly, having turned their music off before entering to deal with this situation logically.

Chara stepped forward again, despite Verdana's attempts to stop her, "I've been hearing 'Error this' and 'Error that' so much from you people. What the heck makes this guy so dangerous?"

"He destroys universes on purpose," Rindie said simply. Now, the yellow shield vanished around Alric as he stood up, his eyes glowing once more, just thinking about Error. Rindie slapped him upside the head to calm him.

Alric frowned at Rindie and scowled for a moment before speaking anyway, "Imagine laying in a meadow with your friends. With Verdana, enjoying life. Then, in an instant, a corrupted version of Sans appears to tell you you're a mistake. An error in the logical processes of the universe. Then, he strips away everything you've ever loved away from you, leaving only you and your friends' dust behind. Forcing you to move on, knowing that nothing you can do will fix what he's done. Knowing he found pleasure in your suffering, only to move on and bring more to other worlds." He said, his rage building as he described it more and more.

Rindie reached a hand out to Alric, holding a stress ball for him to squeeze. He took it in his hands as tears began to form in his eyes, "Imagine watching those you love most, forced by him to attack you. Forced to destroy you for him. I couldn't… I had to..." Alric couldn't continue, destroying the stress ball in his hands before walking off, away from them as he tried to recompose himself.

Chara looked down in shame after hearing this. Verdana tried to comfort her, as did Asriel. Frisk looked over with Alex at Alric, before looking at Rindie. Frisk spoke, "Is that… is that r-really what Error does?" She asked.

"Yes," Rindie said without a moment's hesitation. Frisk frowned and looked down. Alex, instead, decided to walk over and talk to him.

After a moment, Alex got over to Alric, "H-hey Alric. A-are you alright?" Alex asked with a bit over nervousness.

Alric, whose face was in his hands, took a deep breath before sighing, "Yeah, sure. I'm fine." He responded before turning to face Alex.

"You- You don't look fine." Alex pointed out.

Alric smiled weakly, "Yeah… I know." He replied, pausing and looking up at the ceiling. "So, Alex… how's Frisk?" He asked, smiling still.

Alex couldn't help the small blush that formed, "Sh-she's- I-I mean w-we're fine."

Alric smiled, "Good." He paused again before continuing, "I'm glad. You know, you remind me a bit of myself… before I lost my world, I mean."

Alex nodded and smiled at him, not seeing Alric as a huge, dangerous threat like before… but more like a friend in need. "Doctor Gaster said you n-need me?"

Alric smirked a bit, "Yeah, Wing Dingy says a lot of things." He chuckled a bit, and Alex laughed too after hearing the nickname he gave Gaster. "But, yeah, you might be the key to destroying him."

"B-but… I heard Gaster say something about how he might be being f-forced to attack again. Didn't h-he make a deal to stop?" Alex asked, not really wanting to kill anyone.

Alric shook his head and frowned, "Let's say, for argument's sake, that you're right. He's being forced to attack again. Well, he's still breaking whatever stupid agreement he made. Plus, that deal didn't undo everything he destroyed!"

Alex frowned in disapproval. "There's no other way, Alex." Alric told him, "He deserves to be Judged and punished for what he's done!"

"Alex," Rindie said, bringing the males attention to the… whatever Rindie was. "Error _enjoys_ ending universes. Someone like that can't be left alive. They're like… a parasite. You wouldn't want a parasite in you, would you?"

Alex looked away and frowned, before sighing in defeat and nodding, "N-no, I wouldn't…"

The grey child turned their head to the side. "If I was at full strength, I could just lock Error somewhere, but him being alone is part of why he's like this anyway," They said.

Alric crossed his arms, "And I'd be able to do that, but Error doesn't deserve mercy. After his lack of giving it, it would only be right to deny him the same courtesy."

Alex looked at Alric and Rindie, as Alric took a few steps towards them, "B-but S-Sans said that a-anyone can be a good p-person… if they j-just tried!"

Alric shook his head, "And who's to say that Error would be willing to try?"

"B-but if he was willing to m-make a deal to st-stop, then he m-must have tried!" Alex said desperately.

"Error was forced into that deal," Rindie informed Alex, crushing that hope. Alex sighed and frowned, hanging his head in defeat, before walking back over to Frisk.

Alric turned a bit to Rindie, "Thanks… for helping me back there…" He said, meaning both the argument against Alex and the dispute with Chara. Rindie simply nodded to Alric. Petty squabbling between them all would not help anyone.

Out of nowhere, Sans appeared in the basement, standing beside Alric and Rindie. " _sup kiddos."_ He said, getting their attention. " _i see the gunslinger is back. you here for round two? best two outta three?"_ He asked with sarcasm.

Alric turned around to look at Sans, crossing both arms a bit tighter now, seeing the hostility in Sans' sockets, "Hello Sans."

Sans looked at Rindie, his smile not as high as usual, " _hey rind, what's the gunslinger doing here after yesterday? thought they'd be long gone."_

"He only attacked because all he met after his own timeline was Genocide Charas. He is here to apologize," Rindie said simply.

Sans looked at the guy in question, " _so kid, you're sorry about what happened. for being prone to violence, you don't seem too bad."_

Alric's eyes flashed a bit as he looked over the skeleton, judging him the same way he does to others, "The same could be said to you, Sans." Alric countered.

Sans' sockets went dark instantly. Alric continued before Sans could respond, "You've had your fair share of violence. And I'm not just talking about the genocides I've seen." He paused looking over Sans once more, reading his stats again, "After all, neither of us are free from LV."

Sans' hands came out of his pockets as he continued to stare at Alric with black eye sockets, " _how. dare. you."_ Sans said, barely masking his anger as he prepared to pull Alric's SOUL forward with his blue magic.

"The Sans I knew never killed anyone. Sure, he killed the 'weed' during his Resets, but…" Alric said, ignoring the increasing anger in the skeleton. He continued, "... he NEVER killed any of those fallen children."

Unable to contain his rage any longer, Sans forced Alric's SOUL from his chest and turned it blue. However, the blue couldn't hold on Alric's SOUL, quickly blinking back to its normal color after a moment. This show of power and resistence surprised Sans. Alric summoned his revolver back into his hands as his SOUL was pulled forward, ready to fight back.

Rindie got between the two, sending large grey hands and grabbing the two, restraining them from both moving and shortcutting. "ENOUGH!" They shouted. They both snapped out of it and looked at Rindie in surprise. Everyone else came running over to see what was going on. Sans let his hands return back in his pockets. Alric released his revolver as it dissolved once more.

"Can you two stop fighting like children?" Rindie asked, frowning.

Alric looked angry still, "He started it!" He then scowled at Sans.

"And _you_ didn't need to retaliate," Rindie said simply. Alric looked away, still angry at the skeleton for pushing them. "And _you shouldn't have started it_ ," Rindie continued towards Sans.

Sans shrugged as best as he could in his current state, " _hey pal, i'm not the one judgin' other people for their pasts."_

"ISN'T THAT THE POINT OF A JUDGE, YA IDIOT?!" Alric said in anger at the skeleton, "I thought you were a Judge here too?! But I guess Judges can be dirty, too, huh?!"

Verdana looked at the two, "Sh-Shut up y-you two!" She said, frowning at the bickering and arguing. This got Sans to stop and not respond to Alric's last statement.

"Are you two done yet?" Rindie asked the two.

Sans quietly nodded, while Alric frowned, but agreed, "Fine…" Rindie released the two… then held their head and stumbled, low again. Alex and Frisk ran over to support them while Alric walked away a bit to cool himself off. Sans took a few steps towards Rindie.

" _hey, you alright there, buddy?"_ He asked, seeing the energy drain from them. They nodded a little, looking exhausted. Rindie's response didn't exactly restore Sans' confidence, as he still looked upon them with worry.

Alric soon came back over to check on Rindie and everyone else. Sans stared at him with narrowed sockets, making Alric narrow his own eyes back in response. Finally, Alric sighed, "Listen punnybones, I'm not here to fight you."

" _excuse me if i don't completely believe ya after the events of today and yesterday."_

"And I apologize for that." Alric quickly said, doing his best to not blow up again in anger, "But I haven't been having an easy time with everything either. I promise, I'm here to help you guys."

Sans relaxed his expression a bit, " _i take it you know how i feel about promises."_

Alric nodded, "Of course lazybones, I know how seriously you take them." Sans smiled weakly and nodded, letting Alric relax a bit as well. The lab grew quiet for a moment before a new voice broke the silence as someone came downstairs.

"Children?" Asgore asked before stepping out of the doorway and fully entering the large room. The moment he appeared, Alric froze in place for a moment in shock, before vanishing from sight.

Asriel was the first to speak back, "Hey dad!"

Asgore smiled warmly as he approached the group, walking over towards where they all were with Rindie and Sans. Asgore's expression grew slightly concerned when he saw Rindie, exhausted. "Are you alright?"

Rindie nodded tiredly, not bothering to speak for now. Asgore slowly nodded before making sure all of his kids were present. Of in the distance, behind Asgore, stood Alric. He remained in the shadows, watching Asgore, wanting to go out and talk to him, but afraid to do so as well. After a moment, Asgore turned to the side a bit to look directly at Sans.

"So, Sans. Any news about this 'Alric'?" Asgore asked, having been told the story of what transpired the previous day.

Sans looked over and made eye contact with Alric in the distance before looking back at Asgore. He shrugged, " _i dunno, but judgin' by the info i have, i'd say he's close by."_ Sans winked as Asriel groaned and the others giggled a bit. Asgore couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped him as well.

"So, do you know why he attacked Chara yesterday? From what I heard, he was friendly to everyone, until Chara showed herself and greeted him." Asgore asked.

Alex spoke this time, "Well… he said he was from another world that was destroyed. And after that, any other versions of Chara he found were evil."

Asgore frowned and put a paw on his forehead, "I had forgotten about the complexities of these 'other worlds'." He paused for a moment, "So, it was just a misunderstanding?" He asked, hopeful that this wouldn't be a repetition of the 'Betty Incident'.

Rindie nodded to the giant goat monster to alleviate his fears. Asgore smiled in relief, just as they all heard Alric's voice from behind Asgore.

"D-d… dad?" His small, weak voice asked. Asgore's expression basically spelled out shock as he turned around to face the speaker. The boy was somewhere around the age of 15, wearing nothing more and a black t-shirt and a pair of shorts.

"Excuse me?" Asgore asked.

When he fully turned around to see him, Alric froze, looking up at him with wide eyes before quickly looking away. Asgore, concerned about him, went down on one knee to be closer to his eye level. "Are you alright?" He asked gently.

Suddenly, Alric ran into Asgore's arms and tried his best to hug him tightly, having not seen Asgore in a long time. The old king was surprised by this, but eventually gave in and held the child close. "There, there. Everything's alright." He said in his deep, calm voice. For the first time in a long time, Alric was on the edge of tears. Everyone remained silent as they watched this transpire.

After a moment, Alric let go of Asgore and took a step back, having enjoyed every moment of that hug… even if it wasn't really his dad that he had hugged. He looked up at the friendly monster king, "Th-thanks Asgore…" He finally said, looking away. Asgore simply nodded and smiled warmly at Alric before standing back up.

He turned back towards his kids, "Anyway, I must be leaving. I have a very important meeting to take care of this afternoon, so Tori will come by and pick you up soon." He paused before chuckling, "She has some choice words to give to Gaster as well."

He then turned back to look at Alric, "It was nice to meet you, Alric." He smiled and nodded, "Goodbye." As Asgore said this and prepared to leave, Alric's pupils shrunk for a split second before they widened and began to glow. Asgore's previous statement bounced around in his head.

" **Human. It was nice to meet you. Goodbye." Asgore reveals his trident, before quickly sending it through your MERCY option. You tell Asgore that he's killed you too many times to count…**

Asgore, oblivious to what was going on, made it to the doorway, preparing to leave. Alric was doing everything in his power not to lose it… but the LV was strong, filling him with Vengeance and Rage. Asgore had been guilty of both killing him and several of the fallen children, and a large part of Alric knew he had to be Judged for what he did. But, there was another part that knew he already received his punishment… Unfortunately, the first part was starting the win the battle as the yellow revolver appeared in his hand.

Alex saw this and quickly lept at Alric, tackling him to the ground. Luckily, Asgore was now out of the room and far enough away to not know about what was going on.

"A-Alric, STOP!" Alex demanded, sending Pure magic into Alric's SOUL in an attempt to calm it down. After a moment, Alric remained in place and stopped resisting, allowing the Purity magic to wash over his soul and temporarily block the LV's grasp on his SOUL. He blinked and looked up at everyone looking at him. Alric looked away, refusing to look any of them in the eyes before he forced himself to his feet.

"I'm… I'm sorry…" Alric said quietly, ignoring the many blasters and knives that had appeared before him. Slowly, the magical attacks went away, leaving them to look at Alric. Alex slowly reached out and put a hand on Alric's shoulder.

"It's ok." Alex tried to tell him, trying to reassure him that it really was ok. Alric looked up and smiled.

"Thanks." Alric took a deep breath and recomposed himself. "Anyway…" He began, "Shouldn't we try to focus on the issue at hand: Error…?" They all nodded.

Sans looked at him, " _alright, so let's start with this. what makes you think alex is the key to winning this?"_

Alric looked at Rindie, his own confidence slowly coming back, "Hey Rindy, do they know about Error's power and abilities?" He asked, wishing to know how much he'd need to explain, especially since Rindie didn't seem up to explaining everything.

"I know he has strings he can use, he tends to wrap them around people or attacks to take control," Rindie informed, sounding tired as they spoke.

Alric nodded, "Yes, Error's main ability is these blue strings he creates." To demonstrate, Alric summoned forth his SOUL, which produced the black beam from yesterday that was used on Chara. As the beam came to a stop, just a foot away from the origin, it split into many thin 'strings', but were black like the beam. Everyone except Rindie stared at the black strings in awe.

Alric remained neutral while he continued, "With the strings, they can coil around your SOUL, taking control of it. In fact, he can even put his own consciousness into you using the strings if he really wanted to. And, if he gets ahold of your SOUL, he could also simply crush it in his grasp." He added, making the black strings move around, before retracting the strings and magic, making them disappear.

"You… You can do that too?" Alex asked. Alric nodded.

"Wait. Were you trying to do that to me yesterday?!" Chara asked as she grew angry once more.

Alric simply ignored her question, looking away from Chara, "Anyway, he has more than just strings at his disposal." He looked to Sans, then Verdana, then back to Sans, "Of course, Error has Gaster Blasters, but they are stronger and quicker than normal. And, they don't require Karmic Retribution to actually hurt you. And finally, he can 'shortcut' with ease, both within and between timelines."

"Is… is th-there any w-w-way to s-stop those st-strings?" Verdana asked, scared of the power those strings could have over the people she loved.

Alric nodded, "I didn't know this at first, but… yes, they can be cut and destroyed with enough magic, interrupting Error's control." The images practically flashed before his eyes.

 **Blue strings emerged from nowhere. It hit Papyrus, removing his control over his own bones. The blue strings held his soul tightly, forcing him to summon a much harsher 'Fabled Blue Attack'. Error Sans attempted to mock you, but his error-filled speech only hurt your ears. Papyrus pleaded for you to flee… but you couldn't leave him…**

Alric snapped out of it and frowned. He hated having to think about those final days. The last days in which he had held onto his innocence. Where his childhood and happiness were taken without hesitation by that error-filled abomination.

Rindie, out of nowhere gave him a comforting hug. Alric smiled warmly and chuckled, "Hehe, thanks Rind…" Alric could feel a new presence standing nearby, who had just appeared a few minutes earlier. He turned to see Gaster standing there, not summoning any sort of magic against him like he expected. He looked at Gaster with a hint of confusion.

" _ **So, if this is what we're up against, then perhaps it is time to prepare for his arrival."**_ Gaster finally said, getting everyone else's attention. " _ **Why don't we start with your plan?"**_ He continued motioning towards Alric as he took a few steps forward, " _ **If you think Purity might change the course of the battle, why do you think that is, and how?"**_

Alric nodded, before looking at Rindie for a moment, "I'm not entirely sure on his origin, but I believe that he may be only alive because he is maintained by his 'errors'. Perhaps Purity could wipe it away and render him useless. Or, it could at least dampen Error's abilities. Or, well, that's my theory. I'm not the scientist here."

Gaster nodded, stroking his chin for a moment, " _ **Yes, what you're saying does make some sense. Since monster magic is in tune with our SOUL, then if you could, theoretically, Purify a SOUL and removed certain characteristics affecting it than you should be able to distort or even shut down their magic."**_

Sans shrugged, " _makes sense to me too g, but we aren't exactly the sole expert here."_ He couldn't help his grin growing and his chuckle. Everyone either laughed or groaned at that, including Alric. After a moment, he continued, " _alphys knows more about this stuff that us."_

Gaster nodded, " _ **Yes, you are right. I'll go talk to her about this, and see what she thinks."**_ Gaster said before pausing, " _ **Oh, and kids, I believe Miss Toriel is here for you."**_

No sooner had he said that, Toriel entered the basement level and ran over to her kids, "Ahh, my children. You are all safe…" She said this last part as she gave Gaster a quick death stare, making him smile awkwardly as he took a few steps away from her.

Rindie tried to hide behind Alric. They did not want to go to school. Alric, too, wanted to hide, but thanks to Rindie's movement, he failed. Now, both newcomers were spotted by Toriel's watchful eyes.

"And who might you two be?" She asked with a smile. "Friends of theirs?" She asked, motioning toward her children. Rindie nodded, eyes still shut tight. Alric bit his tongue, feeling a small stab of pain in their heart since Toriel didn't know them, but he also had to remember this wasn't his world.

 **My child, would you like to stay with us? Asgore and myself? That is, if you have nowhere else to go… Really? You want to stay with us? You… you have no idea how happy that makes me…**

Alric lost it and ran forward, hugging Toriel tightly as, for the first time since his original world, he let tears flow. He sobbed into Toriel's robe as she held him closely, comforting Alric as best as she could. "I… I'm s-s-so s-sorry m-m… mo-... miss…" He couldn't bring himself to call her mom after all these years. After he'd failed her so long ago.

" **M-my child… run!" She pleaded as blue strings gripped her soul tightly. You had already lost so many friends and family… and you didn't want to lose more. Sans stood beside you, like he always did for you. He summoned his fearsome blasters to block her involuntary fireballs. His eye sockets pleaded with you. You knew what he was going to say. You had to run…**

Alric held her tightly, even as his tears came to an end. "My child, are you alright?" She asked gently, ignoring her now damp robe as she comforted him. He pulled back a bit to look up at her, she smiled gently back down at him. "It's alright… I know you didn't mean to…" She told him, making him freeze in place. Did she know what he was thinking?

She continued, "I see now, you never wanted to hurt Chara. You were just scared, weren't you?" Once again, it hurt, but Alric knew this wasn't truly his mother. But, she was right about that. He was sorry about hurting Chara. A moment later, he released himself from her clutches and stood up, smiling weakly.

Meanwhile, Rindie had moved to hide behind Frisk. They would not go to school! Toriel smiled gently at Alric for a moment, "So, are you going to be staying here a while?" Alric didn't know how to respond at first, simply shrugging. "Well, if you do plan on being here a while, you should consider going to the school with my children. It's a nice school…" She paused and smirked a bit as she looked over at Rindie, "And that means you too. Don't think you can hide from me…"

They could have. If they had the energy. And their powers. Rindie hid more behind Frisk anyway despite being caught. Toriel chuckled a bit at this and stood back up. She motioned to her kids. "Come along now, we have other things to take care of…" After a few minutes of attempted argument, the four of them finally gave in and left with Toriel. Now Rindie, Alric, Verdana, Sans, and Gaster were the only ones still present down there.

Somehow, at some point, Rindie had laid down and had fallen asleep… with Sans right next to them. Alric looked down at them and chuckled, "Heh, somethings never change, do they doctor?"

Gaster nodded and smiled, " _ **No. No they do not…"**_

* * *

The rest of the afternoon went by fairly quickly, especially for Rindie. After having tired out from preventing the fight between Alric and Sans, Gaster returned them to their bed and let them rest. Sans eventually woke up, and joined the conversation with Alric, Alphys, and Gaster, who were discussing preparations for Error and the idea that Purity may hold the key to success. Eventually, Rindie had woken up after regaining some energy and had come out to the main lab as they other three were still having their conversation.

"-so is this going to work, or not?" Alric had been saying.

"I-I d-d-don't know. I m-mean, th-theoretically, it sh-should work like you s-said… but Error i-is in a league all h-h-his own. We w-won't know for s-sure until we tr-try." Alphys answered.

" _ **Well, I'd rather have it be a long-shot than impossible. If there's a chance, we'll take it. Good work Alphys."**_

"Haha, yeah. Good work Alf, now we're getting somewhere." Alric joked.

" _hehe, alf… not bad…"_

Rindie tilted their head. Well wasn't this a confusing part of the conversation to walk in on. Alric turned to see Rindie and smiled, "Hey Rindy. Mornin'." He said with a smirk. Alphys, Sans, and Gaster turned to see them as well.

The very low on energy being waved. Well, low in perspective to how much they usually had. Sans hopped down from his chair, " _so, i think that this calls for a break. grillby's anyone?"_ Gaster narrowed his eye sockets at Sans and Alphys let out a quick snort. Alric, on the other hand, was excited. His eyes began to glow a bit brighter, not in anticipation for battle, but in excitement to enjoy Grillby's food once more.

"I'd love me some Grillby's." Alric quickly said.

" _heh, i see someone has some refined tastes. any other takers?"_ Sans asked, still grinning. Rindie raised a hand. " _there we go. you know what they say: two's company, three's a crowd… but four's a party. heck, five would be fun too."_

Gaster shook his head, " _ **Sorry, but I'll be fine. I'll stay here and finish running the simulations. Our latest estimates put Error's arrival at tomorrow, so I'd like to make sure everything is ready for his… grand debut…"**_

"A-and I'm busy…" Alphys said, blushing.

"Awww!" Alric quickly said with a huge smile, "You and 'Dyne got a date, dontcha?"

Alphys immediately began to turn red as she stuttered, "Y-y-y-yeah, w-we d-do."

Alric was still smiling, "You two are sooooooo adorable~!" Alphys, before she could turned any redder, walked off, hiding her face.

Sans took a few steps over toward Rindie with his usual, lazy grin. " _so, you kiddos ready to have some gourmet food?"_

Rindie nodded eagerly. " _welp, if you insist… i guess i could spare some time for food."_ Sans grinned a bit wider when it got a chuckle out of Alric. Sans put a hand on Rindie's shoulder, while Alric reached over and held his other hand, shocking him for a moment before he quickly recovered. Soon enough, the lab faded around them. Rindie, wanting to know if they could see the void, opened their eyes as they traveled. After a moment of nothing but an annoying pain appearing in their eyeballs, they close their eyes again.

* * *

The world was back to normal as the three of them stood in the doorway to Grillby's. As the Canine unit and the rest of the regular patrons greeted Sans, the other two followed him. After the greetings, they quickly made it to the bar where Sans normally sits. However, there was now three stools for them, rather than two. As if Sans had already known there'd only be three of them… or, he was just messing with things to confuse them. Ultimately, that'd remain a mystery for another day. Especially since Rindie couldn't see to tell the difference.

As expected, upon taking their seats, a woopie cushion went off underneath both Rindie and Alric. Sans simply grinned, " _man, guess that weirdo with the whoopie cushions followed us to the surface."_ Sans said, feigning ignorance.

Alric sat in shock for a moment before he lost it, putting his head down on the counter as he laughed at the absurdity of Sans' pranks. It'd been so long… He looked up after composing himself, and smiled with a huge, genuine smile towards Sans. "That… was good…"

Rindie seemed to not share his sentiments, throwing the whoopie cushion in Sans' face. Sans shrugged as he caught it before it hit the ground and put it… wherever he puts his vast amount of items. " _hehe, well they're not for everyone."_ He said with a shrug before looking at Grillby, who was standing there, watching the three of them.

" _so, what do ya want?"_ Sans asked the two of them.

"Food." Alric responded with a straight face, before losing his composure and laughing.

Sans chuckled, " _really? me two! fancy that…"_ He said in a lighthearted, sarcastic tone.

"Fries, vanilla milkshake please," Rindie requested.

Sans nodded, " _sounds good to me. how 'bout you alricky?"_

Alric laughed at that dumb nickname, "Hmm, let me see… I think I'll have a regular burger with one of Grillbz's chocolate shakes."

Sans chuckled and nodded, before turning to Grillby, " _alright grillbz, we'll have a double order of fries and an order of your burg. one vanilla shake, one chocolate shake, and one extra large ketchup."_ Grillby nodded, putting down the glass he was cleaning, and left to the back to prepare the food.

"So, are we gonna ketchup on some stuff while we're here?" Alric asked with a smirk, earning a chuckle from Sans.

" _i'm gonna relish the fact that you used that pun."_ Sans responded, continuing to smile.

"I wish I could mustard the will to sit through this," Rindie said, joining in.

None of them could keep a straight face as they all laughed at their own poor taste in humor. After a moment, Sans finally broke the silence, " _but rick's right, i should probably bring you up to speed rind. hehe, and here i thought i was the only one who slept through important conversations…"_ He teased.

"Well when you go from 'infinite energy' to 'barely enough for a toddler' you tend to feel sleepy," Rindie deadpanned.

" _heh, that sounds like me. ya know, minus the 'infinite energy' half."_ Sans joked, before shaking his head, " _anyway, we figured out a few important things while you were out like a light. you certainly heard the most important part from Gaster, right?"_ He asked Rindie. They nodded.

Sans' smile faltered a bit, " _so, yeah… he'll be getting here tomorrow…"_ He paused for a moment to correct himself, " _well, actually, he's already here. he arrived while you were asleep."_

Alric leaned forward on the counter a bit, "Yeah, but whatever Sans did after I arrived with the barrier tech, it slowed him down. What should've taken Error seconds has increased into hours as he tries to get past it."

Sans nodded, " _hehe, yeah… good thing i took initiative for once. so, that's the first part. the next thing to share is our hypothesis with purity's effects on error. we won't know until we actually try, but it seems that purity should, at least in theory, weaken error's strength for a limited amount of time."_

"Any advantage against him would be preferable," Rindie said with a nod.

Sans' smile grew a bit, " _every little bit helps. in fact, gaster and i have been in contact with mister sower. you know, the kids' teacher with a golden soul. we're still not sure what his trait is, but it may also serve as another advantage."_ Sans added.

Rindie tilted their head. "How so?" They asked.

Alric spoke up now, "Gaster was showing me that despite not learning much about the golden trait, he recently made a breakthrough and discovered a major property of it. Golden souls…" Alric paused for dramatic tension, before nodding to Sans.

Sans chuckled a bit despite the silliness of Alric, " _golden souls are immune to soul effects and soul magic."_ He finally revealed, " _yeah, mister sower came in recently to allow us to test it first hand, and sure enough…"_ Sans pulled his own SOUL forward before making it blue, floating him up gently for a moment before sitting back down, " _i couldn't turn him blue. alphys' phone tech couldn't turn him yellow. Nothin'."_

Rindie tilted their head, silently considering this. "Is there a drawback?" They asked immediately.

Sans shrugged, " _that's the thing. this was our only breakthrough so far. we haven't figured out any limitations except one… he can't accept soul magic. like, if alphys gave him a phone, the yellow button wouldn't work on him, even if he wanted it to."_

Alric began to get excited, "So, that got us thinking: Would Error's 'Puppet String' magic be useless against him too? If that's true, then we have two huge advantages to use against Error: Purity, and whatever the heck gold is."

"I meant more… can you _heal_ him?" Rindie asked.

Sans thought for a moment, " _well… we didn't check that, but if the trait immunity is universal, then i'd wager that he could still be healed physically, but healing his soul might be another issue entirely… i'd assume eating monster food would heal him, but more direct ways of healing the soul might not work…"_

Rindie frowned. "I asked because if we have him against Error, I'm worried if he can actually fight. I mean, having someone immune to Errors strings is nice and all, but it doesn't help if the person can't hit the skeleton," Rindie explained to them.

Sans sighed and nodded, " _yeah, we weren't too sure about the fighting part… and you're right about that. guess we could still have him on standby. worst comes to worst, having an extra hand with an immunity could still help."_

Right on cue, Grillby returned with all of their food. He set a plate of fries and a large vanilla shake in front of Rindie, a burger in front of Alric with his chocolate shake, and a burger with his normal ketchup order in front of Sans.

" _welp, i say we enjoy our food before it gets cold."_ Sans suggested before looking up at Grillby, " _thanks grillbz, just put it on my tab."_ Sans said with a wink.

Rindie dug into their fries. The milkshake was cold by default. Alric and Sans did the same, digging into their burgers while taking occasional sips from their respective drinks. If only everything could stay simple and calm like this.

* * *

Error Sans was quickly growing impatient. It was supposed to be SOOOOO SIMPLE! First this stupid Entity shows up and forces him to break his agreement with Ink Sans, which didn't really bother him too much. It, honestly wouldn't have been too bad if it weren't for him taking his freaking Frisk from him and holding them as ransom.

Sure, the kid could be annoying at times, but he'd grown rather fond of them…

Anyway, it was supposed to be simple. Get in, destroy this one easy timeline, and then get out. Problem solved. Frisk is back, and he could just go back to doing what he did best. It also helped that this timeline was filled with 'errors' and 'mistakes', but it really didn't matter at the moment. Because… right now… he was stuck!

" **This is taking far too much time!"** He complained. The timeline was simply a thought away, or just a few feet from where he now stood. However, the other Sans, the one of this timeline, he'd actually been 'progressive'. Willing to actually try and do stuff, which certainly caught him by surprise. And now, he'd have to deal with the consequences of his own arrogance. Now, it'd take quite a bit longer to break in…

...but… he's almost there…

"Having trouble there, friend?" The Entity asked Error, standing just a few feet away. The inky darkness of the Void coated his exterior, blocking Error from even coming close to identifying the Entity. All he knew what his soul trait… gold… the trait of Creativity… It unsettled him…

Error Sans rolled the pupils in his sockets as he continued to work, actively looking for an exploitable weakness in the barrier. " **Oh no. I've having no problems at all here. In fact, I've decided to handicap myself. I'm going to use up the majority of my energy on breaking through this barrier. And then, when I get through, I'm going to have no idea what lies on the other side of this rift."**

"Sarcasm is very unbecoming of you, Error." The Entity told him plainly.

Error ignored him as he got closer and closer to finding the answer to this stupid puzzle. " **For claiming to be all-powerful, you sure do have a funny way of showing it. You could just open this barrier and let me in. You could have destroyed this timeline with a thought. Or… maybe… you're not as powerful as you claim?!"**

The Entity simple stood there in silence for a moment without responding. After another moment, they did, "That is not the kind of power I have, nor the kind I seek. And even if I could do that, what makes you think I would? You're the one fighting for Frisk, not me."

Error cringed for a moment, before returning to the task at hand. After a moment, his smile began to grow, " **Ahh, there it is…"** Error Sans said, having finally found the perfect exploit to get through the barrier and into the timeline.

The Entity sarcastically began to clap their hands, "Congrats, you managed to gain access to a timeline in just over thirty hours. A new record…"

Error turned around to look at them for a moment, " **Alright then, smart guy. How about you help me out here since I'm doing your dirty work. Has anyone else gained access to this timeline while I've been working?"**

The Entity simply shook their head, "No. All that are within the timeline are those that belong… and Rindie, of course."

Error Sans nodded before looking at the now-open portal. He looked back at the Entity once last time, " **I fully expect the kid to be back where they belong when I'm done. Or, so help me, I'll destroy the entire multiverse to find you."**

The Entity smiled, "Of course. Now, go complete your end of the deal first." Finally, Error Sans entered the timeline, leaving the Entity alone in the Void once more.

All alone now, they couldn't help the smirk that formed on his lips. Error sure was going to be surprised by Alric being there. They chuckled to themself as they brought forth the window into the timeline to watch as the whole thing went down. This would be entertaining. And… soon enough, it'd be their turn to finish their magnificent plan. It didn't matter how many times he was threatened or warned… he refused to be deterred from this path!

Then, the Entity remember. "Oh, silly me, I almost forgot." The Entity waved a hand over the timeline for a moment, before the white barrier reformed. However, this time it enveloped the entire timeline… and turned gold, the color of the Entity's soul. The Entity smiled to himself,

"There we go. Now… no one gets in, and no one gets out…"

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **Bet you can't guess what's gonna happen next chapter… ok, maybe you can…**_

 _ **Anyway, hope Alric's been a pretty cool new character, and that his backstory was interesting. Let us know what you thought with a PM or Review. I also hope the new information about golden Creativity SOULS is interesting... Oh, and remember this: I don't own Error Sans.**_

 _ **Thanks to Razaraga for their idea for Rindie/Verdana**_

 _ **Thanks to alextisgr8 for their idea for Alric**_

 _ **And keep reading it!**_

 _ **-swrWriter**_


	29. Error, Chapter Title Not Found

_**Quick little Author's Message:**_

 _So, in case you didn't know, I live in the state of Florida, which was just hit by Hurricane Irma. I've been without power since the weekend and have been unable to really do anything with the story. I apologize for not posting this sooner, but the hurricane kinda messed up my plans. As such, this will be the only chapter submission this week since I'll be busy fixing stuff with relatively little free time. Hope you enjoy this chapter and I once again apologize for the delay!  
_

 _-swrWriter_

* * *

No one wanted today to come. After the events of the previous evening, Gaster and Sans put some finishing touches on the trap, before heading home to get a decent amount of rest before Error arrived. Attached to the QMA was an Inter-dimensional Barrier Reader(IBR), which would warn all parties when the barrier separating Error from the timeline was about to give. Luckily, Error seemed to be having quite the amount of trouble, as everyone was able to get some rest in and wake up naturally.

After explaining the situation to Toriel and Asgore, they reluctantly agreed to allow Alex, Chara, and Frisk to go to the lab… well, not really. What really happened, was that Gaster, Sans, and Alric all explained the situation to the couple. Toriel and Asgore understood everything, but the queen wasn't just going to sit by and let her children be put in danger. Asriel volunteered to stay, to keep them kinda calm, but this didn't exactly reassure the queen.

In fact, Asgore had to physically restrain her from using her fire magic to prove her point. Luckily, in the end, the other three were able to go to the lab.

* * *

Fast forward about an hour, and everyone that needed to be there was there, just as the IBR began going off. Mister Sower was standing in the back of the lab, away from the QMA as a secret weapon in the case that he was needed. Rindie, Alric, Alex, Chara, and Frisk all got together, standing several feet away from the QMA. Sans and Gaster turned on all of the necessary devices for the trap to be successful.

Finally, the IBR informed them all that their artificial barrier had completely failed and collapsed upon itself. For a moment, the lab was drowning in silence.

"Is he coming?" Alex asked nervously.

Alric nodded, "Of course he is…"

After a moment, a flash of blue light appeared before the QMA, before the light vanished and left a monster in its place.

His overall shape and appearance was very, very similar to Sans, but his colors were all wrong. His skull was black, with blue lines running from his eyes to his jaw, which looked very similar to the 'blue strings' that Alric had described. This inside of his eye sockets were red and his teeth were yellow, while the normal blue coat was replaced with a mostly black coat with golden accents and a red undershirt. His shorts and slippers were also black, while his leg bones were red and his fingertips were yellow.

But, this wasn't even the most frightening feature of Error Sans. As if this alone were the reason for his name, there were literal 'ERROR's floating around him, quickly appearing before fizzling out and reappeared elsewhere on him. As he stood there for a moment, his teeth formed a large grin as he looked upon the people in the lab.

" **Hello everyone…"** He spoke with an unnerving smile.

Then, the trap went off. A focused set of Magical Inhibitors popped out of the floor and fired their energy at Error Sans, enveloping him in it. Before he could try to get out of the beams, the barrier was summoned around him, trapping him in place as his magic was suppressed. He looked around in confusion for a moment, quickly finding the source of these devices. After that, surprising everyone, he just smiled and shrugged.

" **Wow. What an introduction…"** He said simply, smiling and nodding towards Gaster and Sans. Sans, although he tried to prepare for this, was still in slight shock seeing a deadly double of himself before him. Both of his sockets were dark.

Gaster stood his ground and refused to be intimidated in the slightest at this abomination of his son, " _ **So, you are the dreaded Error?"**_

Error Sans did a quick little bow, " **At your service."** After that little show, he stared into Gaster's sockets, " **And you must be the man who speaks in hands. You know, you're not supposed to be here buddy."**

"The same could be said to you!" Alex shouted at him.

Error turned to look at the children, " **Ah, yes… Alex the anomaly. And I also see you brought your abomination friends with you. Let's see, we got Chara the fallen child, who should be dead. I see Rindie the not-so-great and powerful. There's Frisk with her boyfriend. And… who're you again?"**

Alric was clenching his fists, summoning a yellow sword in one hand and his signature revolver in the other. He approached the barrier separating the two from each other. "I am Alric Dreemurr, the Judge who has come to bring Justice upon you, the destroyer of worlds."

Error Sans looked at Alric and his serious expression before he let out a chuckle, " **Oh wait, I remember you now."** Error's menacing grin grew larger, " **You're the abomination that watched as I tore your timeline apart, monster by monster."** As Alric's eye began to glow brighter and brighter, Error continued, " **You were that pathetic joke of a Frisk that cried and broke down as I dusted the rest of that pathetic timeline. Just like that equally pathetic Sans."**

"Bait, don't take it," Rindie said calmly to Alric, holding his shoulder to calm him.

Error Sans smirked, " **That's right Alric, you wouldn't want to take down the only thing separating me from you, would you?"**

Alric managed to take a deep breath. Error took a moment to look around his surroundings a bit more before he shrugged, " **What an abomination, this timeline… welp, guess it's time to get to work, right?"** He asked the group with a wink.

Rindie used what little magic they could safely use to speed up their perception to see what Error would do. Unfortunately for the entire group, it turns out that the barrier that was created against Error wasn't really strong enough to contain him, rather it just made it 'inconvenient' to break free. Out of nowhere, the artificial barrier ceased to exist and Error Sans was free.

Once freed, Error smirked and waved a skeletal hand at the speakers and Rindie, causing both Rindie's iPod and the speakers to start playing his theme. Unfortunately for him, some outside force, probably the Entity, disable most of the battle magic.

 **[Cue: Errorlovania (by: Jeffrey Watkins)]**

Alric frowned as the music began. He hated this song. The song seemed to have an… interesting effect on Rindie, because they started to _glitch_ a little. Before anyone could really react, Error Sans outstretched his left arm towards Gaster, sending several magical blue strings toward him.

Eyes widening for a fraction of a second, Rindie stepped towards Gaster, before suddenly appearing next to him and pushing the skeleton out of the way, allowing the strings to stab into Rindie. None got their SOUL, having been aiming a little too high for that, and instead punctured their skin, making them bleed.

"H-heeeh… nice one," Rindie commented, voice a little staticy. Error Sans smirked, summoning a few glitch-filled Gaster Blasters beside him.

" **Hmm, it seems your title as the great and powerful really was misplaced…"**

Rindie only smirked, before turning to look at Alex as they grabbed Errors string in their hold, the glitching around them allowing them to do so and preventing Error from dismissing or destroying them. "H-h-hey, s-s-sorry, a-aaaaalex, b-buu-uuut I kept s-soomething…"

The glitching child summoned a familiar white energy to their hand, winking. "N-now, t-t-to quote a c-ceeertain h-hell d-dee-deemon… _GET OVER HERE!_ " Rindie shouted, yanking the strings they were holding with supernatural strength. The surprise of the incident caused Error Sans to lose some of his concentration, sending him flying towards Rindie.

Once close enough, Rindie brought the fist covered in PURITY back, before punching Error right on the eyes with it. He flew back the direction he came, stopping by one of his blasters catching him. He froze in place for a moment, the 'Error's' floating around him growing a bit larger and freezing for a moment as well. He began glitching in place after a moment.

Now free of their impalements, Rindie fell to their knees, coughing up blood. Frisk quickly ran over to check on Rindie, right as Error Sans' errors ended. He narrowed his sockets at Rindie's fallen form. " **Serv-serves you right, ab-ab-ab-ab-abomination!"** He said, struggling against the now even-more-present errors.

"S-s-screw yo-o-o-ou, p-porky pig," Rindie replied weakly. Frisk tried to support Rindie as Gaster ran over with some medical supplies. With Frisk's back turned, Error sent another round of strings at her, but they were sliced mid air as a yellow sword cut them, thrown by Alric.

Error immediately tried to send another set of strings at Alric, but they refused to form. He looked down as his empty hands and frowned, " **I see… you cu-cu-cu-cut off my magic su-su-supply…"** Error Sans did not seem happy.

Alex brought out his Clavicle sword and ran forward to face Error as Alric pulled his revolver up and Chara summoned her knives. A combination of flying knives and bullets flew through the air at Error Sans, who simply teleported to different locations to dodge the projectiles. As Alex got closer, he fired a Gaster Blaster towards him with the intent to kill. Luckily, Sans summoned a pair of his own to block the beams and fire back at Error, making him have to teleport once more.

" _not so fast, bud. there's only enough room in this timeline for one punmaster."_

Gaster and Frisk turned their attention away from the battle for a moment, focusing on Rindie, who was continuing to bleed out on the floor. "R-Rindie! Are you ok?"

"H-heh… n-not really," They said, coughing again, form wracked with pain.

"G-Gaster, do something!" Frisk urged in fear as Gaster returned with some supplies.

" _ **I'll see what I can do."**_ He said as he began to work.

Back in the fight, Error made another move. He summoned four blasters, one for each of his current opponents, and blasted them at lightning speed towards each of them. Sans brought up a pair of his own blasters to shield himself, Alex used his Clavicle to try to deflect most of it, Chara used a swarm of red knives to protect herself, and Alric swapped his revolver out for a pair of yellow swords, which sent out Justice magic to counter Error's blasters.

This worked just as Error had hoped, distracting them all as he teleported elsewhere while they were busy protecting themselves. Everyone turned their attention to Chara as she screamed out in pain. Turning to look at her, they all saw Error Sans for a split second before he vanished again. Chara readjusted her posture and stood up straight for a moment before turning around toward the others with an evil smile. Her SOUL, before her, was covered in blue strings.

Error's voice played out from Chara, " **Charas never seem to disappoint with their power…"** Dozens of red, glowing knives formed around her as she maintained her smile.

As the knives came flying towards them all Sans brought up a wall of bones, blocking most of them. The few that got through were shot down by Alric and his sharpshooting abilities with his revolver. With the wall out of commission and the knives gone, Alric aimed at Chara and fired a single shot, coated in purple magic.

With a quick slash, Chara cut the magical bullet in half midair, sending both halves around her. She smiled and shrugged, " **You'll have to try harder than that…"**

Chara's smile, for a moment, turned into a pained frown, "H-help… me…" After just another second, the smile returned, just as did the dozens of knives.

" **It's knife to see you all, but I think it's time to cut to the chase…"**

Sans summoned another wall of bones to protect them as the knives came again for round two. Unfortunately this time, the wall failed quickly, only stopping about a third of the knives. Sans was beginning to tire out. Alric and Alex, with their swords, deflected the majority of the blades, but a few managed to graze the pair, lowering their HP.

Alric turned to Alex, "Cover me, I have an idea!"

Alex nodded and dashed forward, before the next round of knives could be sent. Quickly getting close to Chara, he swung his sword at her knife as she tried to strike him, parrying the blow. As they fought like that for a moment, Alric reached his hand forward towards Chara and concentrated.

Suddenly, several black tendrils of energy came from his fingertips and shot forward towards Chara, catching her off guard since she was distracted. It wrapped around her SOUL and cut the blue strings holding it, before taking control of her instead. With Chara under Alric's control, he forced her to unsummon her weapons as she fell to the ground in exhaustion. He released his own control of her as Error Sans was forced back into the fight.

Error Sans, now standing on the tile again, frowned, " **Welp, there goes one puppet."** He then shrugged and smirked at them, " **But, it seems like your numbers are dwindling."** He mentioned, motioning toward Sans and Chara, who seemed to be low on energy and magic.

" **Ya know, two on one; me against you two, that seems pretty unfair…"** Error said with a smirk.

Alric wasted no time, sending several rounds from his revolver towards the error-ridden skeleton, who easily dodged the shots. Error Sans took a few steps back for a moment before taking in a large breath.

He smirked and shrugged again, " **If you keep this up, I'll be forced to use my special attack…"** He said, teasing Sans a bit. " **Hey, have you all met the any other 'Sans'?"** He asked with a smirk.

Alric fired more rounds at him, which continued to miss as he teleported, while Error sent a few blasts from his blasters at them in response.

" **Have you met Underfell Sans? I like to call him 'Sans abomination number 13'. Would you like to meet him?"** He asked rhetorically before opening a rip in time and space that was filled with errors. Error Sans sent his hand forward, forcing another Sans to come through.

This Sans's smile was made up of sharp, pointed teeth, with a single golden tooth. He wore a black jacket and pair of short, with a red undershirt and a pair of red and white sneakers. His eye sockets were dark except for his left eye, which glowed red.

Error Sans smirked a bit, " **Go on, say your line…"**

Then, forced by Error, Underfell Sans spoke, "you're gonna have a GOOD time." Error Sans let out an error-filled chuckle before forcing the new Sans to create sharp, red bones around him and a few Gaster Blasters.

"Crap." Alric said, "TAKE COVER!" He yelled before hitting the deck. Alex followed his example as countless red bones flew overhead, nearly decapitating the pair. Alric shot back up to his feet quickly and fired a few more rounds at the two skeletons making them dodge.

Alex got back up as well, using his sword to begin deflecting the new wave of sharp red bones. One of them managed to hit Alric, but he didn't even flinch. Alric smirked, "Your magic doesn't work on me, I have the LV to ignore it!" He boasted, before sending more bullets towards the pair. Unfortunately, one of the bones managed to snag Alex in the shoulder. Instantaneously, Alex hit the ground and began writhing in pain as a red aura-like flame enveloped his body.

Frisk left Rindie and ran over to help Alex as Gaster continued to try to heal Rindie. Something must have gone wrong in their attempt to weaken Error Sans, because all of his attempted treatments were failing to heal Rindie.

Frisk ran over to Alex and formed a red shield, made from her Determination, to protect the two of them. Alric turned around and shouted, "Don't touch him Frisk! You'll just get burned too. Just protect him until the flames go out!" He told her before returning his attention to Error Sans and his puppet.

Error Sans stood there with a smirk, " **Come now Alric, is this really all the 'Judge' has to offer me?"** He asked, provoking him. Alric took the bait and dashed forward with a sword in his left hand and his revolver in his right. He approached too quickly for Error Sans to respond perfectly, only moving himself out of the way, as Alric sent his glowing yellow sword into Underfell Sans' soul. Underfell Sans straightened up in place as his SOUL cracked and began to shatter.

"In the name of the multiverse, you have been judged." Alric told this Sans, before lifting his revolver and shooting the already cracking soul, causing Underfell Sans to immediately dust and fall apart.

Error Sans shrugged as he reappeared a few feet away, " **Well, there he goes. Good riddance…"** He said with a smirk before blasting Alric with the blasters that now surrounded him.

Alric, now overcome with Error Sans' Karmic Retribution, fell to the ground as he attempted to recover from that blow. His body was now covered in a bright purple flame. Error Sans slowly took a few steps forward towards Alric before shooting out another set of blue strings, before they hit Alric's exposed SOUL and wrapped around it tightly.

" **Heh, 'you have been judged'? Really? Ha, pathetic."** Error said as he held Alric's soul tightly.

Before much more could be done, a few red blades flew by and cut the strings. Error turned to look at the source of the blades and saw Chara standing there, looking about ready to collapse in exhaustion.

" **Ahh, so the demon is ready for round two, eh?"** He asked as he turned toward her. As he looked at Chara, he swiftly dodged two blasts of energy from his side. Now Alex and Frisk were standing too to fight, though they both looked tired as well.

Error Sans couldn't help but chuckle, " **I'll admit, you all have sure have given me a run for my money. This is, no doubt, the hardest timeline I've had to destroy… but it really doesn't matter…"**

Suddenly, another pair of footsteps came forward as Mister Sower stepped up, ready to try to help them. " **And who might you be?"**

"I'm Jordan Sower, and I'm here to help these children…" Mister Sower said slowly, before trying to get in a defensive position.

Error Sans laughed heavily at this, " **This is great. Do you even know HOW to fight?"**

Error Sans said with a laugh, before quickly and unexpectedly sending a set of blue strings towards the teacher. They pulled out his golden SOUL and began trying to wrap around it… but were unable to get a grip on his soul. Furthermore… Error Sans froze in place as he stared at the golden soul with a look of horror on his face. " **Y-you…"**

Alric slowly stood back up and swung down on the strings, destroying them, before firing another shot at Error Sans, hitting him directly in the chest and sending him stumbling a few feet back.

Now, Error had recovered from his quick shock and fired another round of Gaster Blasters at them all, knocking them all back to the floor and skidding in different directions. Alex was knocked next to Gaster and Rindie, the latter of whom was now in worse condition than before.

Gaster finally stood up and took a step toward Error Sans. He was now the only one who was currently capable to stopping Error Sans.

Error smirked, " **Ahh, Doctor W. D. How was the void?"** He asked, before bringing forward a dozen Gaster Blasters and firing them at the doctor.

When the dust cleared from the air, Gaster was still standing in his place with a dozen of his own blasters. " _ **No one can come here and threaten us like this. You will be destroyed if you continue with this endeavor!"**_

" **Sorry to disappoint you doctor, but as much as I'd like to retreat and give you the win, that isn't really an option for me right now."** He said with a shrug.

Gaster slowly nodded, " _ **Then we are at an impasse…"**_

Error Sans nodded and the lab fell silent for a moment. Every single Gaster Blaster on both sides vanished for a moment as the two skeletons stared each other down. Suddenly, the lab was filled with a bright light as the two of them summoned an extra large blaster and fired it at each other, the beams colliding halfway between them.

As the light faded and the dust settled once more, they both stood in place, staring at each other. Suddenly, Gaster's expression changed to shock as he felt the burn marks on his back from a second, smaller blaster from Error. He fell to his knees before hitting the ground hard.

Error Sans chuckled and shrugged playfully, " **What, you thought I'd play by the rules?"** With everyone out of commission, on the ground and watching him, Error took a moment to look around the lab. It was completely trashed. Before Error took a step toward any of them, Alric forced himself back to his feet.

"I'm… I'm not done with you yet… Error…" He said, holding his revolver toward Error Sans.

Error Sans laughed, " **You don't have enough energy to put into your killing intent to even wound me at this point. It's over Alric."**

Alric smirked, "Not… yet…"

Alex threw a small glowing white object, from his position on the ground, up to Alric, who caught it and quickly loaded it into his revolver. "How about a bit of Purity?"

Alric fired the revolver and the silver, Purity, bullet flew into Error Sans' chest, sending him stumbling a few feet back before falling onto the ground.

"That's for destroying my world…" Alric said, allowing himself to form a small smile.

But… it didn't last long. Error soon returned to his feet with an angry frown. Alric's small faded as he watched Error in disbelief. " **Heh heh. Buddy. Pal. Kiddo. I don't think you realize how powerful I am…"** Error gloated as he took a step forward.

" **Go on Alex. Check me."**

From Alex's spot on the ground, he sat up and summoned the CHECK screen.

 ***Error Sans HP** _ **null**_ **ATK** _ **null**_ **DEF** _ **null**_

 ***The Destroyer of Universes. A being made from glitches.**

Alex gasped as he saw the 'errors' in the stat readings, making Error Sans chuckle.

" **Now do you see how pointless this all is. It is my duty to destroy the mistakes of this universe. Anyone that tries to stop me meets the same fate. It. Is. Over."** He said as he summoned blue strings around his fingertips.

Rindie suddenly got up, hacking up blood and looking like they were about to die. Error Sans looked over at Rindie with a smile, " **Ahh, the great and powerful still lives. Perhaps I could start with your death…"** He took a step closer to them, " **You've caused quite a bit of headache for me. Restoring that which was never meant to exist…"**

"You… can try…" Rindie panted, taking a deep breath. Error Sans nodded without hesitation, quickly sending a set of his blue strings forward, wrapping tightly around Rindie's SOUL before constricting and squeezing it.

 **[Cue: End of Music]**

Rindie gasped… before chuckling. "You… idiot," Rindie said, grasping Errors strings tightly. A grey energy came from their SOUL, traveling over the wires, and around Error before the two vanished. Shortly after, a large explosion was heard far off.

As the dust cleared, everyone began to stand back up to find both Error and Rindie were nowhere to be found. All that remained was a crater in their place. Gaster looked at the spot as his sockets widened, " _ **Rindie took him somewhere with a shortcut!"**_

"Can you… track it?" Chara asked as she held her arm weakly.

Sans nodded, " _yeah, but we don't really have the energy to follow…"_

Alric interrupted, "I do… I'll follow them!"

Alex stepped forward, "Take me with you!" Before anyone could tell him no he continued, "You said you'd need a Purity SOUL to beat him, so you NEED me!"

Alric nodded, extending a hand towards Alex, "Alright, let's go." Alex grabbed it immedaitly.

"Now hang on just a sec-" Chara began before she was interrupted by Alex and Alric's quick exit. "Dammit!" She complained, before sitting down on the ground. "Hey Doctor, go any healing items?" She asked. Might as well start healing up in case he came back…

* * *

Alric and Alex reappeared somewhere kinda far away from the lab, in the middle of some sort of natural area filled with trees and grass. There was no one around them at all except for each other… that is, until they noticed Error Sans and Rindie… in a crater behind them. Error had both of his hands on the ground as he tried to get back to his feet, but his arms were shaking from instability. His bones were covered in cracks. Rindie was fading fast, their form turning to particles in the air.

"Huh… n-not quite… what I wanted… b-but good enough," Rindie mumbled weakly.

Alex quickly ran over and tried to hold Rindie's fading body, "Hold on Rindie, you did fine… you'll be fine…" Alex tried to reassure them, trying to hold back any tears threatening to form. Alex looked over his shoulder to Alric, "Alric… We need help!"

Alric, however, ignored the two of them as he walked over to Error, who was still struggling to get back up. Alric smiled maliciously, "Hello Error…" He reached down and picked him up by the vertebrae in his neck, holding him with his left hand as his revolver reappeared in his right.

"Alric, stop!" Alex yelled at him, but Alric simply ignored him. "Rindie needs help!" Alex looked back down at Rindie, "H-hold yourself together Rindie… d-don't fade out…!" He tried to command them.

Rindie sadly chuckled. "N-not happenin, bud," They said weakly, coughing up some more blood. "L-looks like I-i'm done," They mumbled, not really sounding all too upset over their demise. Alex frowned and let a tear form before it fell onto the ground beside Rindie.

"I- N-no… wh-what if I use my P-Purity…? M-m-maybe I c-c-could… I… I don't know…" Alex stuttered out, trying to think of something.

Faintly, Rindie smiled to Alex, even as their head started to dust. "N-nah… goodbye," they mumbled… before their body fell apart into dust, blowing away in the wind and leaving their shuddering SOUL there. That didn't last long, before the SOUL split into seven shards.

The shards went to seven points on the circular crater the three living were in. At each point they went, a sapling grew. One for each main SOUL trait, and they could faintly see roots connecting each for every color in between.

Alex knelt there in place, watching all of this as he let a few more tears form and fall before standing up. Behind him, he heard Alric shouting at Error Sans as he prepared to kill him.

"You have destroyed entire universes and timelines for no other reason than for your sick, twisted crusade! You've torn apart families and friends! Ruined so much by your very existence! And for every person you've killed, for every EXP you've earned, you will be Judged…"

Alex turned around and faced them, "That's enough Alric!" Alex demanded.

Alric ignored him, "You may have once made a pact to end your terror, but you've since broken it, showing everyone you are not to even be trusted with your life. Do you even have a defense for this?"

Error struggled in Alric's grasp, " **I was pulled back into this. Sure, I never wanted the pact, but I could've lived in my own world without doing all of this… it was him… the Entity. He's responsible for this…"** Alex approached the two of them as they talked.

"You can try to pin the blame on the Entity, but you still chose to do this. I see no strings on you!" Alric told him, tightening his grip on Error's vertebrae as he raised his revolver up to Error's glitched SOUL.

Alex, now standing beside Alric, demanded he cease this once more, this time with a darker, more menacing tone as his SOUL began to darken, "I said **that's enough Alric."**

Alric turned to look at Alex in anger, "No Alex! This is what he deserves!"

" **DO YOU KNOW THAT RINDIE'S DEAD?!"** He screamed at Alric. Alric turned around to look at Rindie, only to find them gone… and after taking a deep breath, Alric could smell the dust in the air… the monster kind…

Alric looked back at Alex, "Than that's even more reason to kill him!"

" **There's been enough death today!"** Alex demanded.

Alric shook his head and let go of his revolver for a moment, "I don't need your permission!" Using his now-free hand, Alric sent black tendrils from his hand into Alex's SOUL, wrapping around it in an attempt to take control of him.

Alex visible shook in rage as his SOUL turned pitch black, filling him with Pure Hate. Using his hand, he swiped at the tendrils and destroyed them, sending out a pulse of energy all around them.

The pulse somehow hit something solid in the air that wasn't visible as it went out in every direction. The strength of the Pure Hate undid whatever spell was on said object as it materialized out of thin air before plummeting to the ground.

The object was a glowing golden cage, contained a single, individual human. It… it was Frisk. Or, rather, it was an alternate Frisk with a single yellow and a single red eye. The rest of their body was inverted, making the skin blueish black and giving her light blue hair. They, much like Error Sans, had several Errors floating around them. They knelt within the small cage with both hands gripping the bars of the cage tightly. She looked a combination of terrified and horrified.

After a moment, they all began to stare at it. Error's sockets were the widest. Alex knew what he had to do and summoned forth a large ball of shining black energy and fired it at the cage. THe Pure Hate beam hit the bars as the other Frisk dove backwards to avoid the beam. As the beam hit the bars, the bars began to wither and dissipate as the beam came to an end.

The 'Error Frisk' slowly climbed out of the cage and looked at the three of them. Alex, seeing the alternate Frisk look at him in fear, quickly sobered and felt the Hate drain from his SOUL.

"S-Sans?" The Frisk asked, before running over toward Error Sans. Alric, however, pushed them to the side and turned his attention back to Error Sans.

"That's enough!" Error's sockets widened in fear once more, as did the Frisk's, "This does not matter."

Alex begged Alric, "But Alric, that's his Frisk. This is why he attacked, because someone took them!"

Alric shook his head as he re-summoned his revolver, "So? What about my family? What about countless other timelines filled with families? Did he spare any of them? Even as…" Tears began to form in Alric's eyes, "Even as some of them begged and cried for him to just spare one person…? Yet… he never even cared about any of them… given the opportunity, he'd do it all over again!"

"Alric…"

Alric shook his head again, "NO ALEX! He is DONE!" He focused on Error Sans, "Error Sans, you have killed countless millions with no remorse. You've accumulated untold amounts of LV and EXP. You've brought nothing but pain and suffering to the multiverse. And for your actions, you have been Judged. You are GUILTY of every single sin! And for that, your punishment is death!"

Alric raised his revolver back up to Error's chest, lightly hovering before his SOUL. "But, I have decency. I am fair and just! And so, I will give you something you have denied so many others of." He motioned towards Error Frisk with his head, "Tell them. I give you a few last words before I erase you. That's more than you've given anyone…"

"A-Alric…" Alex tried before he was interrupted.

"ALEX, this is the way it WILL be!" He commanded.

Error Sans looked to his side to see Error Frisk cowering in fear, on the verge of tears. " **Kiddo…"** He began, " **I'm… I'm sorry…"** Frisk now began to cry in fear.

Alric nodded, "There you go… perfect… Now, your punishment is death…" He then loaded a black, hate filled bullet into his revolver, "Goodbye…"

Alric pulled the trigger.

...But it missed. He was tackled to the ground by Alex, causing him to release Error as he fell to the ground, still helpless and unable to escape. Alex held him down tightly, using as much Purity as he could muster to keep him down and weaken Alric's strength,

"Wh-what are you doing Alex?!" He asked in rage.

Alex looked down at him as well, "You may be the Judge, but you're neither jury nor executor!" He told him calmly as he held him there.

"You… You don't know what you're doing!"

Alex shook their head, "Yes I do… I'm showing mercy…" He told him, restraining him until Sans and/or Gaster came to help him. "There's been enough killing for today…" Alex said as he held him down. Alric knew he could do nothing now, and simply stopped struggling to wait it out…

* * *

The Entity stood there in shock as he watched the whole thing occur. His plan had both exceeded his expectations and added more complications. Rindie was gone… truly gone… That would make everything a whole lot easier…

Unfortunately, the two Errors were still alive… He HAD considered that as a possibility, but didn't really see that as the likely outcome. Now though, now it was time to enact the final stages of his plan.

The timeline was now weak… defenseless. Alric was being detained, Rindie had chased away Core Frisk, Rindie was now dead, and Gaster's lab and equipment were all destroyed in the battle. And… 'his' hold on the timeline was at an all-time low, which made everything that much better.

The Entity looked around the Void that surrounded him to make sure everything was in working order. The timeline was now blocked off by a variant of the Barrier, preventing any other outsiders from entering and preventing anyone inside from leaving. Now, it was almost time to make his grand debut.

He smiled as he approached the timeline, "So… let's get started, shall we?" He said, knowing far more than just the Void was listening to him...

* * *

 _ **Error: [Author's Note:] Deleted…**_

 _ **Previous Writer Profile: Deleted**_

 _ **Logging in New User...**_

 _ **Installing new Message…**_

 _ **Success!**_

 _ **Hmm, this is nice. Guess the Error stuff is kinda over now, so onto the important story arc… me! Guess I was able to get more control and more to go my way than I originally thought… Nice! Anyway, why dontcha leave a message or review telling me how awesome I am and how you're rooting for me to win? I'd really appreciate it…**_

 _ **By the way, the previous writer... he's not responsible for the ideas for Alric, Rindie, or Verdana. Did you think that Alric was a worthy character, then let alextisgr8 know how you felt. Same to**_ _ **Razaraga for the latter two characters...  
**_

 _ **And rip Rindie… What?! Too soon?!**_

 _ **Oh well, I'll cya later than, I guess!**_

 _ **-The Entity**_

 _ **((Raz:Pssst, I'm hiding =3))**_

 _ **P.S. rip SWR**_


	30. Sower

Alric was not happy with his current predicament. He laid on his back his both arms pinned down by Alex. The Judge was rendered immobile by Alex, prevented from finishing Error Sans off before he could do any more harm. Alric remained silent for a few moments as he glared at Alex with a small amount of Hate in his eyes. Maybe he should have held off a bit until this other "Error Frisk' was gone, but the job still needed to be done.

Alric looked over to his side to see Error Sans still laying on the ground, exhausted and out of energy. This was the most vulnerable he'd ever been, and this golden opportunity was being wasted. He glared at the pair of Errors as the other Frisk hugged Error Sans.

After a few moments of awkward silence Alex spoke up, interrupted Alric's thoughts and gaining his attention, "It's over. We don't need to kill him." Now Alric was glaring at Alex again.

Alric finally began to speak and respond, "They were the only family I ever had, the only people who didn't hurt or betray me. He made me kill them, laughing all the while. I lost the only people I ever loved, and the dust was on my hands. I finally get a chance to get vengeance for all he killed, some closure for what happened... and you stop me?!" Alric said in anger before laughing maniacally, as if insanity had finally gripped his mind.

While still laughing, Alric continued, "What if it was your family, huh?" He paused a moment, "I shouldn't have shown up. You should feel the pain I feel. Then I doubt you would've stopped me." Hurt filled Alex's eyes, but he remained determined to hold Alric down. Nonetheless, Alex looked away for a moment. Alric took a deep breath to calm down and sighed before he continued.

"But no. They don't deserve that. But thanks to you, countless more will share my fate. In saving a true monster, you sealed the fate of thousands, millions, even more. And when your judgement day comes…" Alric paused this thought for only a moment, as one of his normally golden eyes flickered blue, much like Sans', " _You're gonna have a bad time."_

This spooked Alex a bit, but he remained atop Alric to hold him down. Alric shrugged and smiled, but it was obviously fake, hiding his pain, "Ah well, it can't be helped. That's then. This is now. And now, we have this entity guy to deal with. So, what's the plan? And don't think I won't join. None of you could beat me even if you wanted to. So let's just get started, ok?"

Alex frowned, "If I let you back up, you'll kill Error." He stated matter-of-factly. Luckily, before Alric could try to argue his point, a shortcut opened up as a familiar group of people arrived to see what had happened since they all left.

* * *

After Gaster and all of them healed up, they followed after Rindie and Alric to find quite an odd sight. Error Sans laid immobile on the ground with some sort of 'Error Frisk' hugging him tightly. Alric, on the other hand laid immobile as well, but was held down by Alex, who seemed happy to see everyone was there.

Unfortunately, it wasn't a very successful day… especially when they learned about Rindie's death. Needless to say, there were a few individuals who did not agree with Alex's decision to spare Error… but overall, they did agree that Alric may have overstepped his bounds when he tried to murder Error Sans in front of another Frisk.

As everyone returned to the lab to set up a few things, Gaster remained behind for a while to study these new saplings that appeared after Rindie's death. As much as he'd like to move them, he figured doing so would kill them, so he decided against it. However, he now planned to find a way to purchase the land in which the crater was located and build some sort of quick, easy access to and from the area.

Back in the lab, Sans, Alphys, and Mr. Sower put the two Errors in a special emergency room in the basement, which was fully intact still. This room was built in case someone dangerous appeared from the multiverse but was able to be subdued. This room was built with advanced magical inhibitors and a magical barrier around it that prevented any sort of shortcuts to work from within. With the Errors now successfully locked down for the time being, it was time to focus on one more individual…

Alric was not very happy after the Error encounter. Since his timeline was first destroyed, his sole purpose and drive became to destroy and end Error Sans' existence. And, it just so happens, that his very reason for existence was now 'frowned upon' by the others. He was locked into a magical inhibitor room as well, for about an hour, to give him time to cool off and think rationally before they let him back out.

After a bit of discussion, they finally came to an agreement. When everything calms down and Gaster returned, they'd send the Errors home to live in peace. BUT, if Error Sans ever came out of retirement again, Alric would be able to finish him. Alric really didn't LIKE this agreement, but knew it would be necessary if he wanted to keep the trust he had between himself and the others.

Finally, after Alric was let out of his own containment, Gaster returned, reappearing next to Sans.

" _sup g, how'd the flowers look?"_

Gaster shook his head, " _ **They're saplings Sans, and they're quite unique. Later, I'll have to go back and spend more time studying them."**_ He paused for a moment before seeing Alric, " _ **So, wanna catch me up to speed on your situation?"**_ He asked Alric.

Alric sighed and shrugged, "Ok, ok. So, maybe I took it a little too far back there, but I've come to my senses. I'm not going to kill them unless he tries something else…" He said with an slightly irritated tone.

Gaster nodded, " _ **And what do you plan to do now, since he's taken care of?"**_

Alric chuckled, "Well, from what I've seen, this timeline attracts trouble like cheese does to rats. If it's alright with you, I'd like to maybe spend a bit more time here…"

Frisk ran over and nodded with a huge smile, "Of course you can stay! I bet that even mom and dad would let you stay with us!"

Alric froze for a second, thinking about that, before smiling and sighing, "That… that would be nice…"

Chara came over now, "Alright, then let's go talk to mom and dad then, if that's what you want. They're gonna want to know that we're still alive after that huge explosion."

Frisk gasped, "O-of course!" He turned to Alric and grabbed his hand, "Onward, Alric!" And she then proceeded to comically drag Alric upstairs to meet up with Chara, who ran ahead. As they passed by Alex, who began to follow behind, Alric frowned a bit.

Now, it was only Alphys, Sans, and Gaster in the lab here. Alphys arrived right after the battle ended to help 'clean up'. Alphys spoke now that it was quiet, "S-so, we're s-sending them h-home?" She asked.

Gaster nodded with a smile, " _ **Yes, and then everything can start going back to normal."**_

Sans' smile faltered a bit, " _actually g, we got a problem. it seems that our timeline is cut off from the rest of the multiverse. it might have been because of the qma's destruction, but i won't know until the equipment is up and running again."_

Gaster frowned, " _ **So, that means we're stuck with them until we get everything operational again?"**_ Sans nodded, " _ **Perfect… well, at least we know that much… Let's get back to work and start trying to fix the lab."**_

" _...again…"_ Sans added as they all went back upstairs.

* * *

The rest of the day went by in a fairly normal fashion. Asriel, Asgore, and Toriel were thrilled to learn that both everyone was ok and that the threat was gone. They were all saddened by Rindie's death, even if they had only known them for a short while. When Frisk brought Alric over and recommended that he should stay with them, they were all delighted. He was given the guest room in the house for now, and was entered into the school system by Toriel immediately. In fact, he'd be going to class with the Dreemurrs and Verdana tomorrow.

Speaking of skeletons, after the events of the battle, several pieces of basic equipment was repaired, and many of the holes in the lab were patched, but there was still a lot of work to be done to fix everything. After that, Alphys went home to Undyne while Sans and Gaster returned home to Papyrus and Verdana, who waited for them eagerly. Gaster… he really wasn't looking forward to telling Verdana about Rindie…

Sans and Gaster appeared right outside of their house, so as not to freak them all out with their unannounced entrance. Within seconds they entered the household.

The moment the door opened, Papyrus peaked his head out from the kitchen, "BROTHER! DAD! YOU HAVE RETURNED! HOW WAS THE ADVENTURE?"

Gaster smiled weakly, " _ **It could have gone better, but it went fairly well, all things considered."**_

" _it wasn't easy, but we won in the end."_ Sans reassured Papyrus.

Papyrus beamed, "GREAT!" He looked up towards the second floor, "HEY SIS, DAD AND SANS ARE HOME!" He yelled up to her in his normal voice, meaning she likely already heard him speak when they first arrived home. This... was not going to be easy...

* * *

The hectic weekend finally gave way to Monday as the school week started up. The Dreemurrs, Alric, and Verdana all headed toward their school and arrived out front together. Alric, although he'd seen them all attend the school before, hadn't been in school, himself, since his original timeline. So, this would be a new experience for all of them. Together, the six of them all walked into the school and down the main hallway, stopping at Mister Sower's classroom.

Upon entering, they noticed that a pull-down screen was now opened and a projector was being set up by none-other-than Mr. Sower. "Hey Mister Sower, what're you doing?" Asriel asked in curiousity.

Jordan Sower looked up and smiled at the young boss monster, "Good morning Asriel. I am setting up the projector to show the class a few videos that I believe would help the class."

Asriel smiled and jumped a bit in place, "R-really? That's so cool!"

The teacher couldn't help but chuckle, "Haha, thanks Asriel, I try. Why don't you all go take your seats. We'll start soon." Asriel nodded and joined the rest of the, as they took their seats.

Now, due to their numbers together, the six of them all took up a single row as they sat next to each other. Soon enough, everyone else came flooding in and taking their own seats. No sooner had this all happened, the bell rang, indicating the start of the class.

Having been kneeling before the projector as he finished setting it up, the teacher stood back up and brushed the dirt off of his pants. He smiled and turned to the class.

"Good morning class. I hope your weekend went well and was calming…" Both he and the six students he knew personally well frowned and sighed internally, remembering everything that had just happened.

A few students here and there murmured and spoke for a moment before they quieted down. Once the room was quiet again, Jordan continued, "So, today I have prepared some videos for us to watch. They shouldn't be boring, yet are educational, so please pay attention… However, first I must introduce a new student today."

Alric slowly stood up in his seat. He didn't seem very nervous at all. "Would you please tell the class your name and something interesting about yourself?" The teacher asked with a smile.

Alric nodded and turned around to face the majority of the classroom, "Hello everyone. I'm Alric, and…" He paused for a moment to think about what he'd say as something interesting, "...and I'm completely insane…" The rest of his row turned to look at him.

Verdana silently waited for him to finish. Alric simply stood there with a deadpanned expression for a moment before Mister Sower decided to end the uncomfortable silence.

"W-well, thank you Alric, you may take a seat." He told Alric, who did so soon after.

Alex nudged him, "Why'd you say that? You could've said, like, a million other things." Alric quietly chuckled and shrugged, giving no further response.

Mister Sower cleared his throat a bit to interrupt their conversation. "Now then, like I previously said, we will be watching a few different videos." Everyone in the classroom cheered at this, interrupting him for a moment before he continued, "However." Everyone got quiet, "I want you all to be paying attention and maybe even taking notes. It will be important to remember what they discuss, alright?" There was a collection of nods and hums of agreeance.

The teacher smiled, "Perfect. Let's start." He then walked over to his desk and began typing a few things on his laptop before the projector began to display a black screen, indicating it was ready. After a moment longer, Mister Jordan Sower pressed the spacebar, starting the video.

 **[Play: Stronger Than You - Chara Response (Undertale Animation Parody)]**

" _Here we are again. Just me and you, comedian, right?"_ It began, completely removing the smile from the teacher's face as the video began. This was certainly not what he had planned for. The screen showed what appeared to be Frisk and Sans facing each other in the infamous golden hallway in the Underground: Judgement Hall.

Frisk, Alex, Asriel, and Alric all froze in place, seeing that hallway. Frisk's eyes grew huge as well, their reactions only worsening as the video continued.

" _With your blasters, your flashing eye… You should better be prepared because soon… Your last hour strikes."_ The video showed Frisk flashing and changing between Chara's form and her form. The Frisk in the video had Chara's red eyes and the True Knife.

Verdana found this strange, but still took notes.

" _One step left now, it's almost time. Show you what my determination has still left for you to get back to, you should prepare to just die... like all your friends you'll have a really good time."_ The Chara/Frisk on screen said.

In a flash, the teacher ran over to his laptop and attempted to turn off the computer as his face began to almost glow red in embarrassment. But… the laptop refused to turn off. As the next verse continued, he closed the laptop, yet the video continued without interruption.

" _But guys like you are always just fools. Come at me, try to kill me with your fancy tools! Let's go, now the room gets chiller. Let's go, just another killer."_ The human on screen taunted as battle magic was put on display in the video.

Alric stood up, "Turn it off." He said urgently, which was exactly what the teacher was trying to do. Chara visibly began to shake slightly as she sunk a bit down into her chair beside Verdana, which she noticed now. Frisk, Alex, and Asriel were also not happy by this video, sinking a bit back as well, remembering Sans' attacks and their experiences in Judgement Hall.

" _Go ahead, kill me again I see you're able, But inside you know the end can't be evaded. I can tell you're really tired out of fighting, But I'll even come back after dying"_ The video showed a collection of attempts to kill Sans, each ending with the Chara/Frisk being brutally murdered by bones or Gaster Blasters.

" _Why not let me win? You can't dodge forever! Even if the pain is more fun together. You know I will just RESET and come back newer, And with every try I'm getting even faster than you are!"_

" _I am made o E. L O V E."_ The video then proceeded to show Chara/Frisk murdering Toriel with a knife, before then cutting to Flowey as he smiled and shrugged. It then flashed images of other monsters… Papyrus… Undyne the Undying… Mettaton Neo… Then, it showed confrontations between this Chara/Frisk confronting Lesser Dog, Shyren, and even Muffet.

Alric now jumped fully away from his seat and ran up to the front to try to help the teacher stop the video. Chara was now shaking more violently as she leaned against Verdana. The skeleton hugged her tightly, rubbing her back, contemplating blasting the laptop.

Up at the front, the laptop was now both closed and completely disconnected from the projector, yet the video didn't slow down in the least. Soon enough, the small instrumental break ended as the Chara/Frisk on screen continued.

 _"'This is where it stops, this is where it ends' You keep telling me those words and hope that I would understand, But even if I hear you I won't give up my attack. Can you just not see the truth or can you not see what this all meant?"_

The video soon showed Chara/Frisk dash forward to resume attacking Sans. " _Go ahead, kill me again I see you're able, But inside you know the end can't be evaded! You think I might decide to stop if you stay patient, But I am getting you with my DETERMINATION!"_

" _You know I made your friends all disappear. Erasing all what's left, this is why I'm here!"_ The screen then showed a picture of a defenseless Papyrus for a moment, before quickly changing to a beheaded version of him. " _I will keep FIGHTING, you should be DYING, that is your DESTINATION"_ The Chara/Frisk continued to swap back and forth between the two, before she began to attack again.

This time, the human on screen was able to dodge every single attack Sans threw at them. " _I'm entirely made o E. And I'm sure I'm stronger than you... am STRONGER than YOU."_ THe image changed to a black tar-filled eyed version of Chara as she finally hit Sans in the chest, mortally wounding him as he began to bleed on his chest.

Finally, with all other options expended, Alric summoned forth his yellow revolver and shot the projector, destroying it completely and stopping the video right as it neared the end. Unfortunately… the damage was done…

 **[Video Stop]**

The teacher looked in shock, with an open, horrified expression on his face. He looked up from the debris to see the Dreemurrs and Verdana and how they were doing. Verdana was wrapped around Chara, trying to comfort her. The rest of them were equally horrified and frightened by what just happened.

Mister Jordan Sower took a small step back, putting a hand over his mouth, "I… I didn't… I…" He seemed unable to form an intelligent response. After a moment, he turned away from the class in shame, "U-Uh… class is dismissed for the day…" He said quickly as he walked over to his desk and sat in the chair. His head soon hit the desk lightly before being covered by his hands.

The majority of the kids had no idea what just happened and simply shrugged before leaving the classroom. Before any of the Dreemurrs or Verdana could do anything, an announcement came over the speaker in the room. " **Jordan Sower. My office. NOW."** Mister Sower stood up and looked at them once more before he, too, left the room to go talk to his boss.

Alric came back over to them, "Are all you alright?" He asked in concern. Luckily, Chara's shaking began to come to a stop now that the video was over. Alex and Asriel slowly nodded, before Asriel stood up to get a good look at everyone else. Frisk was shaking a bit, while also shaking her head, in Alex's arms, while Chara was in a similar situation in Verdana's arms.

This day… this day wasn't going very well…

* * *

After the events of their first period, the rest of the day went by like normal, which felt very odd to the six of them. The day ended soon and they went their separate ways. Gaster picked Verdana up from school and dropped her off at their house.

" _ **Alright Verd, Sans and I will be in the lab, and Papyrus is still at work. You'll be ok at home alone for a bit, right?"**_ He asked gently as they stood in the living room. Verdana nodded, smiling at him. Gaster smiled back, " _ **Great. Get started on your homework, and Sans or Papyrus can help you out when we get home."**_ He bent down a bit and wrapped his arms around Verdana, " _ **I'll see you later Verd."**_

"See ya later daddy!" Verdana said happily, nuzzling him a little. Gaster chuckled for a moment before letting her go and standing back up. He gave her one final wave goodbye before he vanished from the house, leaving Verdana alone. Humming, she went up to her room and started on her homework.

Everything was normal and quiet for a while, allowing Verdana to get a decent amount of her homework done. Suddenly, a familiar monochromatic child appeared in the room next to Verdana. The moment they appeared, they fell to their knees and called out, "V-Verdana…!" Core Frisk cried out.

Verdana gasped, wrapping her arms around her to help her up. "W-what happened?!"

Core Frisk, as soon as they appeared, began shifting in and out of existence, barely maintaining a hold on the timeline, "I- I made a mistake…" They began, "There's… there's not one Entity… there's two!" They tried to warn quickly as they continued shifting back and forth.

"W-what?!" Verdana asked in shock.

Core Frisk, still spazzing a bit back-and-forth, reaching into one of their eye sockets and pulled out the alternate Legendary Artifact, before dropping it on the ground. Core looked back up to Verdana now after doing this, "It's…" Suddenly, Core Frisk disappeared completely for a second, before reappearing in a weakened state, "S-Sower… he's one of them…" Core Frisk finally said.

"Are you sure?" Verdana asked, sockets dark.

Core Frisk nodded before their existence began to fade in-and-out again. "I… I'm sc-scared…" Core stuttered, "I… I've n-n-never l-lost sight o-of a t-timeline… I'm… losing m-my grasp…" They tried, their form blinking in-and-out even more violently.

"Y-you'll b-be okay!" Verdana said, picking the Artifact up. "S-stay with me!"

Core Frisk frowned, "I… I'm s-sorry about R-Rindie…" Core Frisk said, trying to hang onto the timeline as best as they could, "I… I think… y-you'll be on y-your own against th-the Entities…" Core Frisk's body was now slightly transparent, no longer fully physical. "L-listen…" Core began, quickly becoming less and less visible and physical. "Th-the Entities… th-they a-aren't w-working together…"

Verdana sagged a little in relief at this, glad that the two entities apparently weren't allies. That'd be terrible. Core Frisk smiled weakly, "M-my h-hold… it's sl-sl-slipping…" Core Frisk was now more transparent than visible.

"Y-you'll be o-okay, right?" Verdana asked shakily.

Core Frisk tried to smile weakly, but was unable to manage that, "Y-yeah. I'll l-live… b-but I… I'll b-be gone f-f-from the t-timeline…" Core Frisk was now barely holding on. They finally managed a small, weak smile, "I-I'm s-sorry…" Then… Core Frisk vanished, leaving no signs of being there previously aside from the Legendary Artifact they left for her.

Verdana grabbed her phone, calling her father. It rang twice before he answered.

" _ **Hey Verd, how goes the homework?"**_ He asked calmly, oblivious to the reason behind the phonecall.

"D-dad! Core was here! They said Mr Sower is a Entity, but isn't working with the other one, and left a artifact!" The female skeleton said hurriedly.

" _ **Whoa, whoa. Calm down Verd, take a deep breath…"**_ Gaster paused for a moment, " _ **What happened?"**_

Taking a deep breath, she repeated slower this time. " _ **So, Core Frisk appeared to you, left behind an artifact, and told you that Mister Sower is an Entity… like the one that's been trying to destroy the timeline?"**_ Gaster asked through the phone, trying to get everything straight.

"Yes," Verdana confirmed.

" _ **Where is Core Frisk now? You said they were there, but where'd they go?"**_ Gaster asked.

Verdana shook a little. "T-they were k-kicked out of the timeline," She said.

Gaster paused for a moment to think about this, " _ **Hmm…"**_ He then shouted something away from the phone that Verdana was unable to hear, likely to Sans or Alphys. After a few more moments of silence he returned to the speaker, " _ **Alright, thanks Verd. Now our suspicions have been confirmed..."**_ Gaster paused before elaborating…

" _ **It appears that we are no longer a part of the multiverse… We've been cut off from the other timelines… Escape no longer seems like an option…"**_

* * *

The Dreemurr household was recovering from the earlier incident with the video in Mister Sower's class. Asriel and Chara stayed up in their rooms after they finished their homework, while Frisk and Alex were sitting outside in the backyard, watching the sun slowly set.

Alex turned to look at Frisk, who was frowning at the sun, as if she was just insulted by it, "You ok there, Frisk?" He asked quietly, leaning a bit toward her as he wrapped an arm around her.

Frisk looked over at Alex and smiled weakly, before leaning into him and relaxing, "I'm ok… I guess."

"Still thinking about that video?" Alex asked.

Frisk hummed and nodded, "It… it looked like one of those genocide timelines you've described to me. You know, where Chara and I try to kill… to kill Sans…"

Alex squeezed her gently as he held her close, "It's alright Frisk. You're ok." Frisk nodded as she, too, wrapped her arms around Alex and buried her head into Alex's sweater, making him chuckle softly.

The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the sunset alone. As the sun touched the horizon and began to vanish beneath the Earth, a few barks were heard from beside them. The two of them turned to see a little white, smiling dog standing there, staring at the two of them. Around the dog's neck was a red collar with a tag that was inscribed with a single word: 'Toby'.

Frisk smiled widely, seeing the dog… as did Alex. "Hey boy." She looked and read the tag silently, "Toby? Is that your name? Come here Toby!"

The dog nodded, as if it understood her, and walked over to the pair of them as his tail wagged. Once close enough, the two of them reached out and pet this strange dog that they both could've sworn they'd seen before.

"Wait a moment, you're that Annoying Dog that took Papyrus' special attack, aren't you?" Firsk asked the dog. The dog comically smiled a bit wider, closed his eyes for a moment, and nodded.

Alex rolled his eyes, "What a silly dog, messing with Papyrus like that…"

Toby continued to smile and yipped a few times before lying down and taking a rest. They both wondered why the Annoying Dog decided to appear now… but they merely considered it to be a coincidence. After all, today has been a pretty odd day…

* * *

 _ **Extra Message, I guess:**_

 _ **Stupid Core Frisk, trying to give away all my secrets… Luckily, I was quick enough to cut them out and separate the timeline from the rest of the multiverse… but… this will force me to move a bit quicker now. After all… it's just a matter of time until Verdana and Gaster share the news about Mr. Sower…**_

 _ **Anyway, feel free to tell me how amazing my plan looks so far. Heh heh heh, that little stunt with 'Stronger Than You' worked out pretty well, if I do say so… If you want to let me know how I'm doing and how much you're rooting for me, leave a Review or PM.**_

 _ **...Don't worry… I can see them just fine…**_

 _ **-The Entity**_


	31. Meeting Me

As Alex and Frisk sat next to each other, Toby, the Annoying dog, came over and allowed himself to be pet. Frisk and Alex happily agreed to pet him as they sat there with the sun lowering itself in the sky. Soon enough, the Annoying dog curled up on Frisk's lap, obviously preferring her touch to Alex's.

Not hurt in the slightest, Alex smiled for a moment as he watched Frisk, before his phone rang. Frisk looked over at her and smiled gently, "Give me a few minutes, I'll be right back." He told her, before walking back inside and leaving Frisk alone.

Frisk returned her attention to the Annoying Dog, before something seemed to spook him and make him run off into some bushes. Frisk stood there in confusion for a moment before she felt a presence behind her.

Turning around, she saw a shadowy figure in the shape of a male adult human. However, all of his features were clouded by shadows and darkness. She only saw him for a split second before she fearfully took a step back and fell onto her butt, yelping in pain as she hit the ground hard.

" **Are you done now?"** The figure asked neutrally, watching her closely.

"Wh-who are you?" She asked.

He shrugged, " **I go by many names. Reader. Watcher. Player. Entity. It really doesn't matter what my name is…"**

Frisk's eyes widened in fear and realization as she began trying to crawl backwards, away from the Entity, "St-stay a-away from m-me!" She yelled at him.

The Entity sighed before summoning a golden wall behind Frisk, halting her escape, " **Calm down Frisk, I am not here to cause trouble…"**

"Y-you're here to d-destroy the timeline!" She accused him after realizing she was cornered.

The Entity shook his head, " **You think I want to destroy this world? Hehehe, Frisk… I'm not here to destroy it, I'm here to save it…"**

"Wh-what do you mean? A-and how can I trust you?! You're literally made out of darkness. You m-might as well have the word 'Evil' written on your forehead!" Frisk countered.

The Entity paused, before letting out a loud laugh, not noticing said word subtly being written in messy cursive on his forehead. " **HAHAHAHAHA. Really?! Because last I checked, you can't really judge someone based on the color of their magic. I mean, pink seems innocent enough… but we both know the dangers of pink magic."** The Entity paused for a moment, looking up toward their forehead before rubbing off whatever magic was messing with them.

He continued after a moment, " **This timeline is under the control of a different Entity. He is responsible for all of your suffering and problems. I'm here to rid him of his control and free this world from his power."** He explained.

"O-oh yeah?! Th-then who's this other Entity?" Frisk asked, demanding to know.

The Entity managed a smirk, " **Why, it's Mister Jordan Sower, of course."**

Frisk shook her head and frowned, "Y-your lying!"

The Entity chuckled even more, " **Hehehe, I'm not lying. What would I gain from lying about this?"**

"I-if he's really as p-powerful as you claim, th-then why did that thing happen earlier, where he got in trouble for that odd video? He sh-should have enough p-power to prevent something like that, if you're telling the truth!"

The Entity straightened his posture before doing an over exaggerated bow, " **And that, my dear Frisk, is a result of my influence.** "

"So… you f-framed him? He-he's innocent for th-that video?"

The Entity slowly shrugged, " **Well, I wouldn't say innocent. Sure, I put the video on his computer and made it play, but it was necessary."**

"H-how? A-all it did was get him in trouble and freak us all out!"

" **But it served another purpose. It opened your eyes to the fact that he normally has control over everything. Now… now we have a chance to take away his control…"**

Frisk shook her head, "I don't believe you!"

The Entity shrugged once more, " **Then why don't you see for yourself. I can show both you and your boyfriend the truth about him. Then, you can decide for yourselves what to do with him."**

As he mentioned Alex, Alex stepped back outside, only to be pulled by the Entity's magic over towards the two of them, " **Oh, hey Alex."** Alex's eyes widened in fear, " **And before you ask, yes, I'm the Entity."**

The Entity then took another few minutes to explain his proposal to Alex, " **Here's the idea, I'll take you to Jordan's house and you can see for yourselves how much power and influence he has. Then, you two can choose to believe me before we save this timeline. Please, believe me when I tell you, I'm not the enemy here…"**

* * *

Alex and Frisk finally gave in, allowing the entity to teleport them to a location in which they've never been. They reappeared in another neighborhood in another part of town, right outside a house.

This house was a large white colored stucco house. In fact, it was much larger than the surrounding houses, which made it almost seem out of place. It was single storied with a vibrant, green lawn that was neatly and recently cut. There was a single, small red car parked in the driveway, which was recognized as Mr. Sower's.

Alex turned to look at the Entity, "So, this is Mister Sower's house?"

The black, inky Entity nodded, "Yes, this is Jordan Sower's residence in this world."

Frisk pointed at the small red car in the driveway, "It looks like he's home though." She turned to look at the Entity while simultaneously reaching over and holding Alex's hand, "How're you supposed to show us anything?"

The Entity smiled and shrugged, "Do not worry, I'll distract him and teleport you two inside. You'd better hurry though…" Alex and Frisk looked confusedly at the Entity, wondering what kind of distraction he had planned.

The Entity looked over his shoulder to see a car passing by with some woman driving it. He smirked before snapping his fingers. As if on command, the car swerved wildly, making loud squealing sounds with its tires. Before long, it crashed into the house next door with another loud noise.

Alex and Frisk looked at the Entity in horror. The Entity shrugged, "What? It matters not, she'll be fine." Before Alex or Frisk could protest, the door to the teacher's home opened as Jordan stepped outside and ran over to the crash, pulling out his phone and dialing 911 as he ran over.

The Entity nodded, "You better hurry." He snapped his fingers again, making the children vanish before reappearing inside the teacher's house.

* * *

Alex and Frisk blinked and their surroundings were changed dramatically. They appeared to be located in what seemed to be a kitchen. The large white tile beneath them was spotless, as if it were just cleaned. The cabinets all looked to be made of oak wood, with black, stainless steel appliances and red walls. Just over their shoulders was a living room with dark green carpet and red furniture. One large sofa and two recliner chairs looking towards a fireplace and tv, all of which were also clean.

This felt… wrong. They were trespassing in one of their favorite teachers' house, looking for evidence that likely did not exist that painted him as a dangerous, foreign Entity with power over the entire world. They wanted to leave. They wanted to give up and return home. Maybe warn their parents and Gaster about the Entity… but they couldn't. Somehow, the words that the Entity told them sounded true… and what if he were telling the truth about Jordan?

Hesitantly, they left the kitchen and entered a long hallway with a wooden floor. The walls were peppered with pictures of Jordan Sower and people neither Frisk nor Alex recognized. As they looked both ways, unsure how to progress, their attention was gained by music playing down the hall to their left. It wasn't battle music, that's for sure. It… it sounded like rock music?!

 **{Now Playing: 'Words as Weapons' by Seether}**

They decided to follow the sound. Heading to their left, they walked down the hallway slowly as the music began to get louder and louder. Soon enough, they reached the end of the hallway. The hall ended in a large, master bedroom, but that's not where the sound was coming from. To their left now was a bathroom, and right across the hall on their right was a study. It was here, in the double-doored study that the music originated from.

The study was painted green on its walls, with dark blue carpet. The room contained a large black sofa that would likely roll out into a couch, several large filing cabinets, a large closet filled with supplies, a tall dark oak bookcase, and a huge dark oak desk. Behind the sofa was a large window, allowing the orange sunlight to enter and brighten the room, negating the need to turn on the lights.

There were various papers and folders scattered across the desk in no apparent order. In the center of the desk, in front of a nice black office chair, was a large monitor connected to a computer. The monitor, itself, was white and had a high brightness. It was here, from this computer, that the music came from.

The computer was open to iTunes, playing this song over the speakers. It was likely either part of a playlist, or the computer was just randomly choosing songs from its library. Looking around, there seemed to be nothing super suspicious about this room. Sure, there were a few figurines from some video games sitting around the room, but that was about all that caught their eyes.

"Wh-what should we l-look for? He didn't really g-give us anything to go on." Frisk asked in a whisper.

Alex nodded, pausing for a moment to think, "He made it sound like it should be super obvious, so let's look around a bit." Frisk lightly smiled and nodded before they both began to look around. If there was going to be anything to find, it'd be in this room. As they began their search, the song changed to yet another rock song. Guess he really liked rock music? Not that there's anything wrong with that!

 **{Now Playing: 'In The End' by Linkin Park}**

Frisk went over to the bookshelf first, looking up and down at its contents. She found many, many books on this bookshelf (No surprise there…). She recognized a few, most of the ones she recognized were ones he had mentioned or quoted in class. Some other things she noticed were a few 'Walkthrough' manuals for video games and a few 'For Dummies' books. There were even a few that surprised her. For instance, she found a 'Boy Scouts of America' Handbook on the top shelf.

Moving on from the books, she then looked over at the closet. After a moment of considering whether or not she should open it, she chose to do so. Opening it confirmed her previous suspicions.

Within the closet were many boxes filled with files and folders. There were a few bins filled with some belongings and other items that might be important to Jordan Sower, but nothing suspicious to report.

 **{Now Playing: 'Bringing It Down' by Starset}**

Alex was looking over the desk as Frisk searched the rest of the room. He located a calendar that seemed to not be fully up to date. The first half of the days had a slash over it, likely to keep track of the days, but the final half was fully blank despite the fact that the month was nearly over. It seems that Jordan didn't really pay much attention to the calendar… but yet, neither did Alex when it came to that sort of thing.

Continuing his search, he found an orange blade-like object made of plastic. It seemed to be a model of some sort of famous blade that could be worn on the arm. The black base that held the plastic replica up read 'Mass Effect', which was likely another video game that Jordan Sower owned/ played.

Ignoring the really cool object that continued to catch his eye, Alex began opening the drawers of the desk. Many of them contained office supplies like paper, tape, pens, and pencils. He found some envelopes here and some cords there, but not really anything odd.

He wanted to check the computer, but there didn't appear to be anything weird on it either. There was the iTunes library of music, but there was no point in checking the entire song list. Alex even minimized the window for a moment to see nothing on the desktop other than things like 'Microsoft Word' and 'Firefox'.

After a moment, he sighed and took a step back, turning around to Frisk to see she was not having any luck either.

"Any luck Frisk?" Alex asked. She shook her head, "None. Maybe he's innocent?" She replied.

Alex nodded with a smile forming, "Yeah, the Entity was probably just trying to get under our skin." She nodded and began to smile too. At least they now knew Jordan was innocent.

As they prepared to leave the room, the song ended and another began. This one made them freeze in their tracks.

 **{Now Playing: 'Stronger than You' (Sans Parody) by djsmell}**

As the haunting lyrics began to play, the two of them immediately rushed over to the computer and saw the picture accompanying the song. It displayed a cartoony version of Sans the skeleton using battle magic. They remained frozen in place for a moment, allowing the majority of the song to play before they acted.

Alex, knowing his way around a computer better than Frisk, paused the song before it ended and began looking at its information. After finding the paused song in the list of the library, Alex looked at the other information accompanying it. The artist for the song, was someone named djsmell, but that was probably just a pseudonym used by the author. The custom-made Album it was listed under, however, was named something odd. Neither Frisk nor Alex had heard of this album before. It read…

" _Undertale"_

Knowing this might be a lead, Alex swapped the search to 'search by albums' and quickly typed this mysterious word in. After just a moment, the entire custom-made album was pulled up. There were tons of songs in this album, many of which had very familiar names.

A few of the found songs were "Stronger than You (Chara Response)", "Disbelief Papyrus", "Megalovania", "Megalo Strikes Back", and "Spider Dance". They recognized many things among these song titles. Without playing it, they knew what Spider Dance was, they recognized the "Stronger Than You' versions, they even saw several of their friends' names in the song titles. Experimentally, they clicked on 'Megalovania'.

 **{Now Playing: Megalovania (Undertale OST)}**

They immediately recognized it as Sans' battle theme, which only played when and if Sans was using battle magic, which doesn't normally happen. In fact, last time that happened, he was under the control of Gaster. And… there was no possible way that Jordan had access to this song, much less know about its existence.

As the haunting battle music continued to play, Alex got another idea. If there were hidden songs and music in iTunes, then maybe there was other things to find hidden in other applications. Rather than waste most of the time they had left looking through everything, Alex decided to search everywhere at once.

Alex, with Frisk watching eagerly, minimized the window and opened a folder. From there, he navigated to the folder that contained everything on this computer, and went to the search bar. Using the keyword from earlier, he typed a single word into the search bar, allowing it to load: "Undertale"

It took a few moments, but soon enough… they were left speechless. The first thing they saw pop up was an icon of a pixilated red heart, which looked eerily similar to Frisk's and Chara's Souls. Underneath the icon was the word 'Undertale'. It… it almost looked like it was a video game. Before they could decide to open it, more things loaded onto the screen.

Many, many songs with the word 'Undertale' in its name or as a tag popped up, including all of the ones they were looking at previously. Then, more things appeared. Several word documents appeared as well. None of them had that single word in their titles, but it was a tag for all of them. In fact, they all had similar titles with a few words in common with each other. Several of them had the word 'PureTale' while many others had the word 'Purity' in their title.

"Purity? PureTale? Undertale? You think all of these are related?" Frisk asked quietly from behind Alex. Alex slowly nodded as he looked over the documents. What could this all mean? Eventually, he decided to click and open one of these strange documents. One word caught his eye… "Continue"…

Alex opened the document titled "PureTale (18) CONTINUE" As it opened, Alex and Frisk read the first few sentences…

* * *

There was no hesitation in Alex's choice. They reached forwards and chose the option on their right: MERCY. Gaster's mouth opened in surprise. He was being spared. He locked eyes with Alex while they were both still in this white nothingness.

"… _ **WHY…?"**_

Alex looked into Gaster's eyes closely and saw the fear and worry be replaced with confusion. "Why what? Why did I spare you?"

Gaster nodded, " _ **AFTER EVERYTHING I DID. AFTER ALL THE PAIN I CAUSED TO YOU AND FRISK… YOU ARE WILLING TO SPARE ME? I… I DON'T DESERVE THIS."**_

Alex took a step forward and put a hand on Gaster's shoulder, smiling softly. "Everyone deserves mercy. Even after everything you did, you deserve a second chance."

* * *

Alex and Frisk gasped in sync. Alex remembered experiencing this, and Frisk remembered the story of what exactly happened. There was… there was no way anyone else should know about this. There was no way anyone else should have been able to know what happened there, much less what was exactly said or done…

It was now confirmed… Jordan Sower, their teacher with a Golden Soul… was the Entity. But… they trusted him. They saw him as a nice, gentle friend who only wanted to help. Did this mean that everything nice he'd ever done was a lie, a scam to make them all feel more secure in his presence?

To check one more thing, to make sure this wasn't some sort of set up, Alex scrolled down to the bottom to see if the document was signed or something. There, as the bottom, read another strange note...

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

 **Alrighty then!**

 **If you celebrate Memorial Day: Happy Memorial Day! If you don't: Hope your Monday doesn't suck!**

 **Anyway, this chapter was almost all dialog, and I apologize for that but don't worry. Next chapter will have events and action and stuff! Won't be another fight, but stuff will occur. Do ya like what I've done? Let me know via review or PM, I also appreciate any and all feedback. Now, I'm gonna go work on the next chapter, and I hope the chapter was ok. I feel like some of it was kinda rushed… so, sorry about that too. I hope the twists, turns, and story are entertaining enough for ya! And have a good day!**

 **-swrWriter**

* * *

An… author's note? This is some story of story or novel? What is this? And… 'swrWriter'? What does that even mean?

As if thinking the same thing, Frisk gasped. Alex turned around to look at her, only to find her staring at that same final word. The pseudonym. She pointed at it, "A-Alex, look! SWR… put a space between the letters and what does that look like?" S W R…

Alex's eyes widened, "SoWeR! It's Jordan Sower. He wrote this… he's the Entity!" Alex exclaimed. Frisk took in a deep breath and nodded in agreement. This was not good…

The worst part of this 'Author's Note' was not just that it was Jordan Sower who wrote this, but it was that all of those horrible life-or-death experiences they'd gone through had been nothing more than a 'chapter' in his 'story' to Mr. Sower. He didn't really care about them, he just cared about entertaining whatever sick, disgusting creatures that would be willing to read this garbage.

Alex and Frisk were about to open the application that read 'Undertale', before they were interrupted by the sound of the front door opening, signaling Sower's return. They began to panic, quickly closing out of the document and the folder, before putting iTunes back up. By now, Megalovania had ended and another song began playing.

 **{Now Playing: Your Best Nightmare (Undertale OST)}**

Frisk froze in place, having not heard that tune in a long time. Just hearing it sent shivers down her spine. The crazy, demented laughter from Flowey was even present in this version of the battle music. She hated Omega Flowey. It only brought back painful memories of her countless deaths at his hands…

They heard Jordan, as if the evidence wasn't incriminating enough already, humming along to the tune happily as he walked down the hall. He should never have had access to this song either. Now, his footsteps towards the study were growing louder. Alex and Frisk slowly began walking backwards, away from the door in an attempt to possibly hide.

If Jordan Sower was as powerful as they feared, they'd be dead if he knew where they were. His footsteps were much louder now as he stepped in beat to the music. He was almost there. Luckily, they room suddenly vanished around them, replaced with the darkness of a shortcut through time and space as the music vanished as well.

* * *

They reappeared in their backyard, finding the shadowy Entity from earlier standing before them smiling. Both Frisk and Alex remained silent for a moment as they began to try to calm themselves down and process what they just learned. After a moment, the Entity spoke.

" **So… what'd you learn?"**

Frisk looked down, allowing her bangs to cover her eyes as she frowned, "Y-you… you were right… Mister Sower is another Entity…" She admitted.

The Entity nodded, " **Yes, I wish you'd never have had to see that, but at least you now know the truth."** The Entity paused for a moment, looking towards the darkening horizon as the moon began to rise, " **And even if you do not believe me after that, go ask Doctor Gaster and Verdana. They both know this truth now as well…"**

Alex looked at the Entity, "What d-do we do about Mister Sower then?"

The Entity took a moment to stretch his neck before smiling, " **With my influence, I can trap him and get him to admit the truth to you all. Then, you should be able to take his control and power away, Alex…"**

Alex looked at the Entity with a confused expression. Frisk did the same, "What do you mean that Alex could take his power away?"

The Entity shook his head, " **You'll have to wait until tomorrow… but everything will be explained then."**

Alex and Frisk hesitantly nodded. This Entity could also mean them harm as well, but so far, he has seemed helpful… but they were still uncertain whether to fully trust him or not. As if the Entity knew their thoughts, he spoke.

" **Give me a chance. You'll see the truth soon enough…"** The Entity turned to the side and stared off in some random direction, thinking to himself… but also to those who could hear some of his thoughts, ' _do not worry readers. you'll understand soon enough… i'm the real hero…'_

After that odd moment of silence, he turned back to look at Frisk and Alex, " **I'll see you all tomorrow around noon, maybe?"** The Entity took a step away before looking back at them, " **Oh, and school's canceled tomorrow, so have fun with that."**

With that, the Entity disappeared, leaving the two humans alone in their yard. They were still stunned by everything that had happened that evening. Together, they decided to hold off on telling everyone everything until tomorrow. If the Entity was telling the truth, then everyone would be told tomorrow when he returns with Mister Sower.

Soon enough, they went back inside to get some dinner. Alric seemed unnerved about something, but refused to say anything to Alex. He was still probably unhappy from Alex sparing Error Sans. Toriel was worried about where the two of them were for the last thirty minutes, but they assured her that they were fine and simply went on a walk. Alric, though… he knew something was up…

* * *

Back while Frisk and Alex were gone, Alric had gone out to the front yard to sit and stare seemingly into space. If one were to look close enough, they'd notice quite a few, almost unnoticeable souls around him. They were the fallen souls of his friends and family. Why had Alex done that? Doesn't that stupid idiot even know the pain and damage that will occur thanks to his actions?!

"…I guess not…" Alric said quietly to himself.

He sat there, looking at one soul in particular. It had a very slight blue hue to the normally white monster soul. It was Sans'… from his timeline… his best friend… And now, he was unable to avenge his friends and family.

And Error Frisk… yeah, maybe Alric shouldn't have been so hasty to kill Error Sans in front of them, but he still deserved it. After everything he'd done, he deserved to be put down like the literal monster that he was…

As he sat there, thinking to himself, some creature brushed up against his side. Freaking out a bit, he pulled out his revolver and pointed it at whatever touched him. Most creatures could feel the violent aura that radiated from Alric's Soul, keeping them away. Whatever this creature was, they knew full well that he was dangerous, yet decided to brush up against him anyway.

As Alric stood up and spun around quickly, he found his yellow revolver pointed at a certain white dog. Alric froze in place as he recognized this dog. It was… the Annoying Dog.

Most people and Monsters figured it was just another white dog who happened to be annoying… but Alric knew better. After his experience with the multiverse, he knew this 'dog' was powerful beyond belief, yet never fought anyone. This 'dog' simply let whatever timeline that was happening happen. As his revolver was aimed at the Annoying Dog, the dog simply made a shrugging motion before he sat down and stared at Alric unexpectedly.

Alric took a deep breath and unsummoned his revolver. After calming down a bit, he spoke to the dog, as if it could understand him, "So, what do you want Toby?"

As expected, the dog didn't respond with anything other than staring at Alric as he wagged his tail. Alric sighed, "Figured as much. You never show up to do anything other than be annoying."

To this, the dog barked at him, further annoying the judge. Alric's frown only deepened. After a moment, he turned to the dog in anger, "Look, you stupid dog, if you're here to annoy me than please go away. I don't need this right now!"

The Annoying Dog stood up and walked a bit closer to Alric before scratching the ground beneath him. Alric rolled his eyes, "What?! I swear Toby, I might not be able to kill you, but I WILL blast you into next week!"

The dog narrowed his eyes at Alric as he continued scratching at the ground. Alric, in annoyance, stood up and looked down at the dog, who'd been scratching the ground in various spots for a few minutes now. "I swear on my role as the judge, if you don-" He stopped mid-sentence when he saw what the dog had done.

In the small patch of dirt beside Alric, there was a single word written by the dog. It read **_'Entity'_** … except… it didn't say that exactly. Rather, it was written in Wingdings. A very specific monster soul attached to Alric allowed him to easily translate it subconsciously.

In response, Alric's eyes opened widely in surprise and he slowly took a step back, away from the word and dog. "Wh-what…" Alric spoke to both himself and the Annoying Dog. The dog only sat down beside the word and nodded silently, as if this message was of utmost importance. Alric needed to think about this…

He turned around and ran back toward the house before entering, just in time for dinner. As he sat at the table and enjoyed Toriel's cooking, he looked over at Frisk and Alex. They both looked uneasy and unsettled by something. Alric wasn't too concerned though… he was still mad at Alex for his previous actions.

Instead of saying anything that might worry anyone, he just ate his food silently as he pondered what exactly the Annoying Dog had told him. It was something about the Entity, and it was written in Wingdings. Obviously, it must have something to do with Gaster since it was written in that way, but he was unsure. Perhaps tomorrow he'd pay a visit to the Doctor and see if he's learned anything…

* * *

 _ **Sup, it's me again! And I could use some help!**_

 _ **Hey everyone. Hope you're all happy to see me again. Looks like the cat is outta the bag now. swrWriter is no longer fully in control… and he's in for a rude awakening soon. Hopefully, everyone will see things my way and stop him before he regains control and gets rid of me.**_

 _ **Oh, wait, I got an idea! I'm sure you all agree with me, right?! Why don't you leave a review trying to tell the characters to believe me? Now that I have full access to SWR's stuff, I'll be able to access the reviews and use them to my advantage. So c'mon, help me out… If you leave a good question or comment, maybe I'll even put it in the story. Who knows?**_

 _ **Oh, and if you plan on supporting that disguising author, then get outta here. He doesn't need your support. His time is up, and it's my turn to take contro-**_

 _ **Shit! Forget I said that. Hey, how do I delete stuff on here? This crap is new to me… Well… forget it, I have the purest of intentions here! Help an Entity out, will ya?!**_

 _ **Oh well, time to prepare the trap for Sower… I'll see you all real soon… Readers…**_

 _ **-The Entity**_


	32. Two for the Price of One

Quick note: Some of Alric's dialog was designed by Alric's creator: alextisgr8. Anyway, back to the story th-

* * *

True to his word, school was canceled the next day. It was the strangest thing they've ever seen. Not a single storm or such incident occurred that night, yet the school was somehow without power. To make things worse, it seems that the electric poles that send power to the school were knocked down as if a tornado had snapped them like twigs. But, then again, not a drop of rain fell last night, much less a tornado.

Therefore, school was canceled for everyone… and that meant that this 'Entity' was beyond serious when it came to confronting Jordan Sower. Whatever was going to happen today, it was going to be important and world changing, that's for sure.

That morning, the five children in the Dreemurr household woke up and enjoyed a pancake-filled breakfast made by none other than Asgore, himself. Sure, his cooking skills were not as amazing as Toriel's, but his pancakes certainly gave Toriel's a run for their money. The vast majority of pancakes made were blueberry, but a few chocolate ones were set aside for Chara, which she really loved.

As they finished up, Alric and Chara were already back upstairs since they finished eating first. Alone, Alric pulled Chara to the side for a moment to talk with her.

"What's up?" Chara asked, wondering what he wanted.

Alric smiled lightly and sighed, "Listen, Chara… I'm... I'm sorry about attacking you back when we first met… and for hurting you when we were fighting Error…"

Chara nodded and genuinely smiled back, "It's fine. I understand now, what you've gone through. I'd be the same way if I only encountered evils versions of people. And about the fight, I kinda did need to be freed, so I appreciate you doing that and getting that skeleton out of my soul."

Alric smirked for a moment before frowning, "Yeah… that skeleton…"

Chara interrupted his thoughts, "Listen Alric, I know you wanted to destroy Error Sans… hell, if I were in Alex's place I would've probably just let you do it..." She said this with a shrug, "...but at the end of the day, if I've learned anything from this multiverse crap, it'd be that it's better to never get dust on your hands, even if they deserve it."

Alric shook his head, still frowning, "You have no idea the amount of dust that abomination has on his hands…"

Chara nodded, "You're right… but maybe there's an underlying reason to his madness…" She saw Alric narrow his eyes, not believing her. She shrugged, "Or maybe he really is beyond reason. The one thing I do know, is that he's willing to do nearly anything for that other Frisk…"

Alric sighed, "I know you mean well and you've made a few good points, but at the end of the day, he should still be dead and Alex should never have stopped me." Chara simply stood there and listened to him. After a moment, he continued, "Anyway, what I originally wanted to say was that… I think we should start over and forget about our first… encounter…"

He paused for a moment, "I've met a lot of Charas, which you already know, and all have been beyond reason. Once, I saw one take over Frisk, destroy the barrier and free the monsters, and then simply kill them all on the surface before resetting. I… I know you're different now… so, can we start over?" Alric extended his hand towards Chara.

She smiled gently and nodded, "Yeah, sure. I mean, I did also provoke you a bit." She extended her hand and they shook hands, agreeing to a permanent truce.

As they shook hands, Alric pulled her a bit closer and whispered, "In case I'm wrong, I'd like you to know that I'm quite fond of Verdana too, not that I'd steal her from you… but if you hurt her, you'll be in for a real bad time…" He paused and looked into her eyes, "... and I wouldn't hesitate to remove you from existence."

Chara stared deeply into his eyes as he said this, only seeming slightly afraid. When he finished, she whispered back, "Then you having nothing to worry about. And likewise, if you so much as try to hurt her or take her away, you'll be in for a bad time too!"

Alric didn't seemed very affected, "You could try…"

Finally, the handshake ended and they took a step back from each other. Chara erased the silence, "Nice. We make a truce and start it with a few threats of death…"

Alric chuckled, "Isn't that how most people make truces?"

Chara couldn't help the small giggle escape her, "I guess…" She then left to her room to get dressed, just as Alric left to go do the same, himself.

* * *

With neither the kids nor Toriel needing to go to the school today, they all proceeded to have a relaxing day at home. Chara and Frisk helped Asgore out back in the garden, Asriel and Alex were watching some TV, and Alric was helping Toriel bake a pie.

All was well and calm, until the doorbell rang.

Toriel looked over her shoulder towards the living room, "Asriel, can you answer the door please?" She asked as she was putting the uncooked pie into the oven with Alric.

Asriel made an overly dramatic groan as he got off the couch and walked to the door. Opening the door, he saw who it was. Mister Sower stood with a weak smile in the doorway. "Good afternoon Asriel." He said, smile growing more geniune.

Asriel beamed, "Howdy! Hey Mister Sower! Why are you here?"

"I wanted to see if Tori was home. I heard school was canceled today." He told him as he leaned in slightly.

Asriel nodded, "Ok, give her a moment, she's busy." He leaned backward a bit to look at Alex, who remained focused on the television. "Hey Alex, tell mom that Mister Sower is here to see her."

Asriel didn't quite see it, but Alex froze in place for a moment, before quickly recovering. There's no way he knew about what happened last night… right?! Alex got up from his spot and went into the kitchen.

"Hey Mom." He said, gaining her attention. She, and Alric, turned toward him as they closed the oven, "Mister Sower's here to see you."

Toriel's expression brightened dramatically, "Excellent, and perfect timing too." She took off the cooking apron and went to the front door to allow her collegue in.

Jordan smiled gently as he was led to one of the reclining chairs in the living room, as Toriel took another. "Thanks Toriel."

She smiled and nodded, "Of course, anything for a friend. If you don't mind me asking, what brought you over here?"

Jordan frowned, "S-so, you heard about the incident in my class yesterday, right?" He asked slowly.

She nodded and slightly frowned, "Yes, I heard about it from a few other teachers and my students. Chara seemed upset by that video…" She then looked up and smiled warmly at him, "But I know it's not your fault. You tried to turn it off, so I don't blame you."

Jordan smiled weakly for a moment before looking down, "Y-yeah. I…" He looked up at her with slightly watery eyes, "I… I was f-fired yesterday…" Toriel put both paws over her muzzle in shock as he revealed this. Alex, Asriel, and Alric were all shocked as well.

Toriel got up from her seat and walked over to Jordan, before bending down a bit and wrapping him in a hug, "I'm so sorry Jordan." He wrapped his arms back around his friend and accepted the comfort. Soon enough, Toriel invited him to stay for dinner, which he happily accepted. As she regained her seat, they continued to converse about what's been happening.

Alric, taking this as a good opportunity, stepped outside into the backyard, away from the garden where Frisk, Asgore, and Chara were. He pulled out his phone and dialed Dr. Gaster's number.

Ring, Ring. " _ **Hello."**_

"Hey Doctor Gaster, it's Alric."

" _ **Ahh, good afternoon Alric. For what do I owe this pleasure?"**_ Alric could hear work being done in the background, likely repairs going on in the lab.

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about the Entity." Gaster paused for a moment and Alric's only response was silence. After a moment, Gaster responded.

" _ **What about him?"**_

"Well, I wanted to know if you got any leads…" Alric was unsure whether or not to reveal the Annoying Dog's message. Finally, he gave in, "...I got a message yesterday, written in Wing Dings, your font and language of choice for your research. It read 'Entity'. I figured that it meant you learned something." Once again, Gaster was silent for a moment, taking this all in.

For a moment, Alric could make out Gaster talking to someone in the background, maybe Sans… Finally, he responded, " _ **Yes, actually. We learned something knew last evening from Core Frisk. There are two Entities, not one like we previously assumed."**_

"Anything else? Any leads as to when they'll get here or what their like?" Alric questioned, growing more and more curious.

" _ **Well, apparently Mister Jordan Sower is one of them."**_ Alric's heart rate began to increase as he froze in place. His silence worried Gaster. " _ **Alric, is everything alright?"**_

Alric finally replied, "He's… he's here…"

" _ **Pardon? Alric, who's there?"**_

Alric began to panic, "H-he's here! Oh my gosh holy crap he's here. Mister Sower Jordan the teacher the Entity he's here right now!"

" _ **Alric, calm down. Take a deep breath."**_

"You… you said there's two Entities?!"

" _ **Yes, but we don't know who the other is. Now listen, you said that Jordan Sower is there? At the house, right now?"**_

Alric nodded, before remembering that he was on the phone, "Yes."

" _ **Alric, we will be over there soon. If the Entity is as powerful as we think, we'll need everyone's help. I'll bring everyone over, but you need to pull Toriel to the side and talk to her. If you don't want to tell her about the Entity, that's fine, but you need to let her know we're all coming."**_

"Alright." Alric said after he took a deep breath. "I'll see you soon Doctor."

" _ **Yes. Goodbye."**_ Gaster then hung up.

Alric nodded to himself before he went back inside. He told Toriel that the Skeletons, Alphys, and Undyne we all going to come by to hang out for a bit. She was ok with that, saying they could even stay for dinner if they wanted since she always makes plenty of food.

Soon enough, the three gardeners came inside and the others eventually arrived as well. Alex and Frisk stayed next to each other, not saying a word about Mister Sower. The Entity was right… stuff was happening today…

And now, with everyone else here… they just needed one final guest to arrive… The Entity.

* * *

"Wait. So you got fired? Over a stupid video someone played by hacking your computer?!" Undyne asked in barely masked anger. Jordan nodded, making her only angrier, "Grrrr, that's so fu-reaking stupid!" She yelled, quickly stopping herself from cursing in front of the kids and Toriel.

Sans nodded, " _yeah, i mean, that video sounded pretty messed up. i'd rather not be cut down to the bone,"_ A symphony of groans and chuckles played out as he smirked, before continuing, " _but even so, that seems like a bit of an overreaction. you weren't responsible for that video playing."_

"Yeah, what kind of sicko even made that video? And what kind of person would enjoy watching something like that?" Asriel added, "Certainly not you, Mister Sower."

Jordan smiled weakly, "Th-thanks for the support you guys. It means a lot."

Papyrus grinned, "OF COURSE, WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS JORDAN, AND WE ALL CARE ABOUT YOU!"

Jordan Sower couldn't help the small blush of embarrassment that formed on his cheeks. He was really lucky to have such great people as friends, especially Monsters. "Thanks Papyrus. You all mean a lot to me too, and I'd never lie about this kinda thing to any of you." He said, motioning to the twelve Humans and Monsters around him.

Alex didn't want to believe he was some sort of foreign Entity with unimaginable power. He certainly didn't seem to have any bad intentions toward the Monsters, he seemed particularly broken up about losing his job, and he really enjoyed being with all of them. Yet… something was nagging at him, telling Alex that the Entity was right… they shouldn't trust Jordan.

Finally giving into his impulse, Alex took a step forward and spoke, "You said you'd never lie to us, right?" Jordan smiled and nodded. "You said that you weren't responsible for that video or anything, right?"

Jordan looked a bit confused, "Y-yeah. Why do you ask?"

Alex took a deep breath. There was one question that still nagged at Alex that he needed answered. If Jordan didn't react at all to the question, then he was telling the truth. "Mister Sower…" He looked up at Alex as he continued, "What is 'Undertale'?" Frisk froze when she heard his question.

Unfortunately for Alex… Jordan reacted…

Jordan Sower's face paled, his jaw opened slightly, his eyes widened, and the rest of his body froze in place. "I- I- uh…" He began trying to form a coherent and intelligent response, but found himself unable to do so. Almost everyone looked confused by both the question and Jordan's response.

Toriel reached over and put a paw on his shoulder, "Jordan, are you alright? You look pale."

Jordan shook his head, "I… I'm f-fine." He managed.

Frisk frowned and lowered her head a bit, "He was right…" This earned everyone's attention, "You're one of the Entities, aren't you?"

Jordan's whole body flinched in fear as he looked into Frisk's eyes. His body began to tremble in fear, confirming Frisk's question. Everyone turned to look at Jordan, most of them not believing this.

Toriel stood up, "There's no way he's this 'Entity' you have all talked about. He's done nothing but be kind and nice to us all. He's a friend, right?" She asked with a friendly smile towards him.

" **I'm afraid you're wrong, your highness."** They all turned toward the source of this new voice. Standing by the front door stood a man, whose features were covered by unnatural shadows. He looked to be wearing a pair of black pants, shoes, and a black trench coat.

Verdana pointed at him, "Y-you… y-you're th-the other E-Entity."

The Entity did a little bow, " **You are right, young Verdana."** He answered with a smile as he stood up straight again after his bow. As soon as he was finished, his right hand formed a fist as he raised it quickly, aiming it toward Jordan Sower, who was still sitting.

Immediately, black tendrils encircled Jordan Sower and held him in place, preventing his escape. These tendrils, however, were not made of Hate, rather they were just forms of the Entity's shadow magic.

Toriel turned toward the Entity with magic fire now coating her paws, "Release him at once." Asgore had his trident at the ready, Chara had her knives out, the skeletons had their blasters ready to fire, Undyne had dozens of spears behind her, and Alric had his revolver ready to fire.

The Entity shook his head, " **I'm sorry your Highness, but he's going to confess a few things first."** She turned back to him to see the ex-teacher's head hung down in shame, not even attempting to resist.

Hesitantly, she put her fire away, "What do you mean?"

The Entity shrugged, " **You'll see."** He looked over at everyone else, " **You can keep those weapons out, but try not to destroy anything with them."** Ignoring any of their responses, he fearlessly walked forward and stood right beside Jordan. The Entity grabbed Jordan's jaw and lifted his head up to look at everyone.

" **This guy, he's been lying to you all."** He looked over to Alex and Frisk, " **You two now know part of the truth…"** He turned to everyone else, " **But I think it's time you all learned everything…"** He motioned toward the captured Human, " **And this guy's gonna confess…"**

They all looked at Jordan Sower expectantly, hoping that he'd say the Entity was wrong. Hoping that he'd say that this was all a lie, that he really was their friend. Unfortunately… he didn't, he just sat there with his head hung in defeat, as if he had lost the biggest game of his life… as if nothing else mattered to him now…

The Entity smiled, seeing that Jordan was defeated. He looked around the room, " **So, who's got their first question ready. Don't be shy, ask anything that you'd like!"** He said with a huge smile as he looked around, waiting for someone to speak.

Toriel spoke first, "A-are you really an Entity from another world?"

Jordan, his head still hanging low, sounded choked up as he answered quietly, "Y-yes…"

Toriel frowned and sighed, taking a step back to sit down in a nearby seat. The Entity continued to smile, " **Excellent question. Now, who's next?"**

Alex looked at both Jordan and the Entity, "Wh-why now? Why now d-did you come here to reveal everything. What changed?"

The Entity smiled and straightened his posture, " **Oh, oh, I know this one!"** He said mockingly, " **When Error sent those strings around Jordan's Soul, it weakened as it repelled his controlling-strings magic. That caused his hold over the timeline to falter enough to give me not only a foothold, but a firm, strong grasp on the timeline."**

Alex nodded, "Th-then what is his Gold Soul?"

The Entity smiled, before taking his Soul out and showing everyone his own Golden Soul. They all gasped in surprise, " **Golden Souls mean Creativity. Much like how the being with the most Determination controls the Timeline, the being with the most Creativity controls the entire Universe. Normally, there's only one Golden Soul per Universe, but sometimes there's several that fight for control."** He explained.

" **Some of us are called 'Players'. Some are called 'Readers' or 'Writers' or 'Programmers', the titles change based on the individual. He is a 'Writer', named swrWriter…"** He paused to look at everyone and see their shocked reactions. He looked at Jordan's face, which was coated and almost radiating fear. " **As the 'Writer' of this universe, he's responsible for everything. All of the deaths,"** He paused and looked at Verdana and Alric, " **All of the pain,"** He paused to look at Chara, Asriel, and Alex, " **Everything was written into existence by him."**

They all stared at Jordan Sower with mixed reactions. None of it was positive. He looked up as tears were preparing to fall down his cheeks, "I-I n-never… I d-d-didn't…" He tried to explain, but was unable to do so.

The Entity nodded, before looking back at everyone present, " **So, who's next with their world-shattering question?"**

Alphys was the next one to speak, "S-so the Amalgamates, Fl-Flowey, G-Gaster in th-the Void, e-everything was y-your doing?" She asked.

Jordan shook his head, "N-no. A-all of that was done before m-my influence began…"

The Entity nodded with a smirk, " **True, but if he truly wanted, he could have undid all of that. Just because he didn't create those scenarios doesn't mean he was unable to undo them."**

Jordan Sower forced his tears to stop as he tried to rebut the Entity's argument, "B-but those events made you who y-you are today." He turned to Gaster, "Y-you've seen other timelines while in the Void. Certainly, you know that simply changing one or two events can create entirely different people!"

Gaster hesitantly nodded, " _ **I do have to agree with him there, at least. Simply preventing Chara's and Asriel's first death would have drastically changed everything."**_

The Entity shrugged and shook his head, " **Normally, yes. However, that's if the timeline was simply left alone after the initial change. With the power of Creativity, he could have guided everything perfectly without pain, problems, or death. He simply chose not to do that."**

"But, my writing is the reason you're all alive!" Jordan began in a panic, "I put the magical essence in to allow Chara and Asriel to be brought back. I put together the plan to bring Gaster back. I only wanted the best possible ending."

The Entity narrowed his eyes and shook his head, " **If that were true, then why did Alex have to go through a Genocide to get enough to revive Chara?"**

Jordan remained silent for a moment, "I…", but he was unable to formulate any sort of response.

The Entity smirked once again, happy with these revelation, " **So, who's up next? Come on, don't be shy…"**

"W-why d-do y-y-you _care?_ " Verdana asked as she stared at the first entity… the invading one. Not the writer one.

The Entity faked shock and pointed to himself dramatically, " **Oh, a question for me? Well, I've been watching this all for far too long. You see, I could have fixed everything."** He pointed at Verdana, " **Your creator, Rindie, I would have never made them die. They'd still be here, happy as can be."** He then pointed to Chara, " **As another example, Chara… I could've made your past so much more bearable, but he gave you a torture-filled one."** He explained with a smile.

Alric shook his head, "Weren't you the one who sent Betty and Error Sans here in the first place. That makes you responsible for at least some of it."

The Entity smirked and nodded, **"No Alric, you're absolutely correct. I admit that I did do those things. But, if Jordan really wanted to, he could have prevented those attempts from even happening. I may have sent them, but he allowed them to come..."**

Jordan tried to speak again, "I never meant it like that!"

 **"And, as for the Chara backstory, same goes for that. Maybe some things may have been here before his influence, but Chara's past is one thing that was never 'set in stone'."** The Entity continued, smirking.

"She's received far worse pasts in other timelines!" Jordan tried to defend.

"A-a-also, w-what's so w-wrong with our u-universe? J-j-just because w-we have s-some hardships d-doesn't m-mean he's a b-bad guy," Verdana continued as she pointed to SWR. "A-also, y-you're t-the writer now, r-right? How d-do we know _you a-aren't controlling us?_ " She questioned with narrowed sockets.

The Entity stood in place, not answering for a moment. Finally, he began, " **For your first question, it's not necessarily the universe that's wrong… it's him."** He said, pointing to Jordan, " **He finds enjoyment in writing stuff like this, he enjoyed writing those parts where death and pain were present. And, as for your other question… You have Swr, here, to thank for that."** He paused for a moment before looking at everyone.

" **You see, he designed this to make you all as free-willed as possible. Rather than controlling you, he controlled the environment and occurrences around you, shaping the way this universe works."** He looked at Verdana, " **As a result of this, and since I don't have complete control, I can also only alter the environment as well. Therefore, you're just as free-willed as before…"** He finished, looking down at Jordan, " **Isn't that right?"**

Jordan nodded slowly, "I… I never took control of any of you… I never wanted to do that." He admitted.

" **Any more questions?"** Alric took a step forward, " **Ah, Alric the Judge, what is you question?"**

"Did you really care?" He asked quietly to Jordan. He repeated a bit louder, "Do you actually care about any of us?"

Before The Entity could interject with his statements, Jordan nodded with tears forming in his eyes once more, "Yes." He said simply.

The Entity shook his head, " **Actions speak louder than words, Writer."**

"I-i s-sensed n-no lie," Verdana said to the others with her eye yellow. Alric looked at Verdana for a moment and nodded, "I have sensed no dishonesty so far either."

The Entity looked at the two of them with a neutral expression, " **Would a statement be considered a lie if the speaker thought it to be the truth? Likewise, could a statement be considered truly true if the speaker thought it to be a lie?"** He asked the two of them. " **And, whose to say that Creativity doesn't give him immunity to such things?"** The Entity could almost see the doubt forming within the Judge and Verdana now... if there was any forming. They both saw through this.

"T-then h-how do w-we know you h-haven't been lying the whole time?" Verdana challenged with more narrowed sockets.

The Entity was stunned for a second, not having thought that statement fully through. After just a moment he shook his head, " **Because I have proof for all of this…"**

"That could have been **fabricated?** " Verdana questioned, starting to get a little bit mad at the Entity now. He reaaaally didn't anticipate this…

The Entity frowned and looked over at Jordan. " **Damn, could never anticipate her or Rindie, could we?"** He said with a light chuckle, " **Perhaps… there's another at work here?"**

Jordan quickly shook his head, "If there's anyone to blame, it's me. No one else did all of this except for me." He tried to tell them. The Entity grinned as he turned to Verdana, " **Do you sense any lies now?"**

"I… wasn't really paying attention, why waste the magic? **Invader**." Verdana asked, eye reddening. Bad time incoming. Alric, however, did feel the lie resonating with his SOUL. He knew that Jordan was lying... that there must have been someone else helping him. Yet, he was still taking all of the blame to protect them... Alric held his tongue and decided not to call him out on that. Plus, this proved one of the Entity's points... he hasn't really lied yet.

The Entity held his ground and didn't look intimidated at all. Sure, she could pack quite a punch, but he knew fighting right now, as it is, wouldn't really benefit anyone. " **Alright, fine…"** He said putting his hands up slightly in defense, " **You don't believe me? Ask Jordan. Ask the Writer…"** He told her.

Verdana however seemed to grin at this, "If you were having your way, why would I do that? **Aren't you trying to make us distrust him?** " She asked as her eye got a little redder. Alric tightened his grip on his revolver.

The Entity shook his head, " **Well, if simply words won't suffice, then actions will have to…"** He paused as he pulled Jordan's Golden Soul forward. He turned to look at everyone, " **You see, in most cases, Creativity is an artificial Soul Trait. When an 'Entity' gets one, it normally covers up who they used to be…"** He looked down at Jordan, " **Or in this case, who they truly are."**

The Entity swiped his hand over Jordan's Soul for a moment, making him attempt to break free and prevent this. Momentarily, his image flashed and shuddered, changing how he looked to everyone for a couple seconds. His Gold SOUL flashed blue, the color of Integrity. His image flickered and showed him look younger than he did a moment ago. After a few seconds, the Gold returned and his image was restored to how it was previously.

Verdana was unfazed. "So? He changed his form a little, **Rindie did that all the time,"** She said with an unflinching gaze, a couple blasters ready to fire.

The Entity frowned, " **Look, I'm not here to fight. This can all be ended peacefully…"** He admitted calmly. He held his arms out to his side as darkness shuddered in his open palms. After a moment, an odd, long object appeared on his hand. It looked to be an elegantly designed pen made with a combination of Silver and Gold.

He held the pen in his hand and showed it to everyone, " **This was imbued with Creativity and Purity magic, allowing it to shape reality. Jordan's main tool of his trade… but it's also his undoing…"** The Entity locked his eyes onto Alex's. " **You see, this can only be used by two individuals: The one with the most Purity, or the one with the most Creativity. Currently, my Creativity and Jordan's are equal, preventing either of us from using it…"**

Alex took half a step back, "Wh-what do you want from me then?" He asked. Chara, Frisk, and Asriel all stepped in front of Alex. Alric held tightly to the revolver in his hand as he eyed the situation. This only kept getting more and more complex.

The Entity smiled, ignoring Verdana's anger and her blasters that had formed, " **You see, you can tip the scales. You can use this to remove his influence over the timeline, freeing it forever from his control. I would simply leave the story as it is, letting you all live in peace."**

Alex looked at the Entity with a bit of confusion, "Yeah? And what if I remove both of your Creativity?"

The Entity frowned, " **That's the thing. There must be a Creativity Soul. If all of them are removed, it would fracture the timeline. Only me and Jordan exist with Creativity here, so removing both would be suicide."** He told them.

The Entity pulled a sheet of blank paper out of thin air, laying it on a nearby table. " **All you need to do is write a name on this paper. Just write SWR and his influence will be gone. As easy as that."** He left the magical pen on the table, atop the paper. Something tingled within Alric's SOUL, telling him that this was not the whole truth... the Entity was telling a half-truth.

Alex was unsure. He hesitantly took a few steps forward and picked up the pen. The moment he held it, it began to glow the color of his SOUL as his SOUL also slowly came forward for everyone to see. It felt as if there was Pure energy running back and forth between himself and this pen. Everyone in the room was silent.

Finally, Alex touched the tip of the pen onto the paper and wrote upon it, feeling his magic flowing through the pen and ink and onto the paper. They all watched in shock as he wrote upon it. The Entity stood there with a huge smile on his face as he chuckled.

" **Perfect."** He said as he chuckled.

* * *

 _ **Note?!**_

 _ **So, I'm gonna end it like this, just like that stupid swr. Is my plan coming together perfectly? Well… spoiler alert, it's always been going perfectly according to plan. That's all I have to say to you Readers…**_

 _ **-The Entity**_

 _ **P.S. Don't Cliffhangers suck?! Guess you gotta wait now... =)**_


	33. The Entity of Darkness

The Entity chuckled and laughed, nearly falling over as he did so. It was hilarious. Everything happened exactly how he thought it would.

Everyone else was confused. Especially Alex. He looked down at the paper to confirm what he wrote. The paper before him read 'The Entity of Darkness'. The real question was, what was so funny about this? Regardless, the Entity continued to laugh as he fell back into the chair beside Jordan and continued to find this whole ordeal funny.

Alex looked at the Entity, "What's so funny? I wrote your name down, didn't I?" While the Entity slowly stopped his laughing, he nodded, confirming that it worked as his name.

Finally, after a moment, he swiped his hand through the air and sent all summoned magical attacks dissipating and unsummoning… though strangely, Verdana's original Blaster just shimmered a little before solidifying, while Alric's revolver didn't shudder in the slightest. It must not have been made of 100% magic. " **What's funny is that you actually thought I was giving you the key to destroying me… hehehehe…"**

The Entity stood up, " **Did you really think I was going to tell you how to use it before knowing how you'd use it? That was just a test, to see which side you were on…"** The Entity closed both eyes for a moment before opening them. They glowed crimson red with a golden flame around them, " **...Which you just failed!"**

He began to chuckle in madness as he held both hands up, enveloping the room in darkness.

* * *

Suddenly, all of the monsters beside Verdana vanished, leaving her and the other four humans behind. Alric was suddenly wearing a golden Battle-Body-esque suit of armor. He tilted his head slightly as he stared at Verdana, " **How curious. It seems you have enough Determination, for a monster, to survive this modified version of Battle Magic…"**

"...Survive?" Verdana questioned.

The Entity smirked fiendishly, " **C'mon sweetie, I'm not a Monster. I don't care about settling things fairly or whatnot. Everyone else in that house is erased from the timeline now…"** He paused for a moment, before looking at Alex and shrugging, " **Of course, I could just fix everything if Alex would agree to take away Jordan's Creativity…"** Jordan Sower laid beside the Entity immobile, held by the tendrils of darkness still. He appeared to be unconscious.

That was all he managed to say before something happened with Verdana. Two streaks of black leaking from her sockets and her eyes glew a dark menacing red, leaking trails of pure DT power. She punched him right in the face.

He stumbled a few feet back and rubbed his cheek, " **Damn, that actually hurt… Guess I should've known better than just stand there and take it…"**

The Entity held both arms out to his sides as music began playing in the darkness, " **I've always been a fan of these 'fan songs'. So, why not play one now… as I show you my real power…"**

 **[Cue: LOVE (Chara Battle Theme) by TheGreatAnansi] {OR DON'T, YOUR CHOICE… =) }**

Alric, Alex, Chara, and Frisk all ran up to where Verdana was, ready to fight. She barely gave the Entity time to react, before _thousands_ of _large house_ sized blasters formed around her, Varela the size of a tower. All the blasters fired as one, a sea of pure _black_ careening towards the Entity at surprising speeds even to him.

Having no time to dodge, the Entity was overcome by the energy. When the dust cleared, he was on his knees, but slowly stood back up and brushed the dust off of himself, frowning. His attire now had a few new holes, " **Man, and this was my favorite outfit too…"** He said non-seriously as the holes mended themselves.

Verdana was suddenly in front of him… and to his right… behind him… and to his left. She was going fast it looked like there were four of her, all of them slashing, stabbing, and punching him with their hands and tail repeatedly. While she was doing that, Alric ran around him in the opposite direction, firing countless shots at the Entity, timing them perfectly as to not hit Verdana.

The other three humans watching in awe. Chara was smitten by Verdana's display.

He felt every impact and cut as he stood there, forced to take each and every one. " **Come now, Verdana and Alric. It doesn't have to be this way… And you've got a rather cute skull. It'd be a shame if I actually counter attacked..."**

The sheer randomness of this statement caused her to pause for a second, looking at him with hateful and confused sockets. Her blasters this whole were charging, slowly growing in size and strength.

The small break allowed him a moment to breath. He cleared his throat and spoke in a neutral tone as if he were a narrator, " **It was at this moment, the Entity of Darkness was not one… not two… but three…"** Before Verdana knew what he meant, a second version of the Entity grabbed her from behind and held her tightly. The one before her summoned a blade of darkness and slashed a strike across her chest, identical to Sans' during Genocide Timelines.

The third version of the Entity came behind Alric and held onto him tightly, attempting to crush him. Before much progress toward this goal could be made Alric let out a burst of energy from his chest, sending a pulse of Justice out in every direction. This forced the Entity off of him as he sailed through the air and landed beside Verdana and the other two entities. Speaking of Verdana, how was she fairing after that strike?

It did… a whopping one damage. The Entity rolled his eyes as he prepared to strike again, being met with a battle-body boot to the head from Verdana kicking him. The other version of the Entity, still holding her back, threw her to the side, keeping her focus on him… and out of the blasters fire, the now quadrupled in size blasters firing their beams. When the smoke cleared, one of the versions of the Entity laid on the ground for a moment before dissipating.

From out of nowhere, the Entity spoke another line, " **With Creativity at his disposal, Verdana's vision was altered, not knowing who was the Entity and who was her friends."**

With the HATE clouding her, the most logical conclusion to her was to shoot everywhere at once, her jumping up and landing on her blaster before doing so. Some blasted every color except green, with the greens making an impenetrable shield loop around more blasters and herself.

As the energy went straight for the humans, Alex and Alric worked together to put a shield around the four of them. As much as they tried, shield magic was neither of their specialties. As cracks began to form over the entire shield, they all knew something else had to be done.

The shield gave way suddenly as the energy consumed them… But Frisk held out, Determined to save them all. Suddenly, the black Void flashed red.

* * *

The four humans and Verdana all stood by each other with the Entity smiled at them. He tilted his head slightly as he stared at Verdana, " **How curious. It seems you have enough Determination, for a monster, to sur… Wait a moment…"** He scratched his chin slightly as he looked upon the five of them, " **Interesting…"**

On cue, Frisk fell to her knees, exhausted from using her DT to cause a partial Reset in the Void. Verdana, still HATEful but also coherent enough to recognize friend from foe… partially, looked at her as Alex held her tightly. Chara drew dual red knives as Alric pulled his revolver forward once more. They were all ready to fight this Entity now.

The Entity frowned, " **Dammit, and now I need to turn the music back on…"** He said with a bit of sarcasm, before looking at the five of them, " **So, let's try this again… why don't we just agree to remove Jordan's influence. Is it really worth all of this?"** He asked, motioning to their surroundings.

" _ **We DoN'T nEEd YoU. If YOu cAn Do tHIS, He Can uNDo iT. YoU ArE DEAD!**_ " Verdana said, somehow _more_ blasters than before appearing as close as they could to him before firing red.

Alric nodded, "If it weren't for Jordan, Verdana might not have even come into existence. Without him, I'd still be out there, foolishly chasing after Error without looking for help." Alric extended his arm and aimed the revolver at the Entity, "You're time is up!"

The Entity stood back up after enduring that attack and sighed, " **You guys are much more annoying and resistant than I thought you'd be… Oh well, I've got one last trick up my sleeves…"** He held both arms out to his sides as the Void flashed white for a moment.

He smiled at them, " **I've reinstated the turn-based system. And don't think it's a suggestion, because I've connected it to Jordan's Soul. Every time the Rules are broken, his Soul will crack. He might not die, but it might be JUST enough to lower his Creativity…"**

 ***The Void is Calling for your Deaths.**

 ***The Writer is still unconscious. Oh joy…**

" _ **Me FiRst!"**_ Verdana said, initiating her turn with a near-impossible to dodge barrage of attacks. It was essentially as if Sans was on twenty gallons of DT steroids.

The Entity did not look happy. That 'Battle Magic' stunt took more magic than he thought it would. He did his best to duck and weave under the attacks, but many, almost all, hit the Entity, shaving his HP down a 'little bit'. It was still a couple thousand, but luckily for him, he technically didn't have any EXP or LV, so KARMA wasn't really involved with the attack.

As the attacks came to a close, he took a deep breath, " **Ah, I haven't played a game like this in a long time. This might even be a challenge for me…"**

The entity noticed something else Verdana had done with her turn then, blasters hovering over her friends covering them in a shield, herself having Varela for that. He shrugged before gasping in mock surprise, " **Oh wait, it's my turn now, isn't it…?!"**

He raised his hands up as he summoned his attack. " **I remember battling Undyne the Undying… could've been harder… like this!"** Suddenly, thousands upon thousands of glowing, gold spears formed all around them, before flying at them all.

The spears hit the shields surrounding them repeatedly, starting to slowly eat away at their strength. For some reason, the vast majority of them were targeting Frisk and Alex, who were under the same blaster for protection as he held Frisk. Alric, in an attempt to relieve the pressure on them, began to effortlessly shoot down the spears while Verdana maintained the shields.

Soon enough, the spears stopped. The Entity shrugged, " **Oh well, guess that's all I have for now…"**

 ***Gold Magic fills the darkness around you, inspiring you.**

 ***The Writer seems to be stiring.**

Alex stood up beside Frisk as he saw the familiar options. Knowing he didn't really have anything offensive, choose to simply CHECK him.

 ***The Entity of Darkness ATK Undefined DEF Undefined**

 ***Soul of Creativity, enveloped in darkness. Pierce the Darkness or weaken Creativity?**

"Well, at least that wasn't completely useless." Alex said with a shrug. Alric readied his revolver for another attack from the Entity.

The Entity smiled and thought for a moment before gaining an idea. " **Hmm, how about we go take a trip down memory lane, hmm?"** The world flashed around them and overwhelmed them all for a moment. They all heard the Entity say one more thing, " **I call this attack 'PureTale'. Hehehehe!"**

* * *

When Verdana could see again, the Entity was not in front of her. Instead, floating before her, was a ghostly version of Chara. The Void around her twisted and changed into a monochromatic version of the Ruins. Verdana was wary, tilting her skull at the ghostly version of her girlfriend.

 **{Music Swap: Megalo Strikes Back}**

The Chara before her drew her red knife and pointed it at Verdana, "Hmm, how curious. You're not Alex…" She shrugged, "Oh well, Gaster promised me life for a SOUL, so I guess yours will have to do…"

Chara slashed the air in front of her, creating two streaks of red magic. Suddenly, the red 'X' flew toward Verdana as Chara flew right behind it, holding her red knife out to strike the odd skeleton. Verdana used her tail to deflect the first half of the attack, before taking the knife out of Chara's hands and kicking her far back.

Verdana waited until Chara was looking, before putting the blade on the pointer finger and thumb of each skeletal hand, effortlessly snapping the weapon in two.

The ghostly Chara scowled at her, "This is what the doctor meant by altering the timeline. I didn't actually think he was serious… Whatever…" She summoned another knife to her hands, before pointing it back at Verdana, "This is the end. Surrender yourself and tell me where Alex is. I have no reason to hurt a monster, but I will do it if you leave me no choice!"

" _ **I DoN'T KnOw.**_ " Verdana replied evenly. " _ **I WaS fIghTING An ENTITY, NoW I am HeRe.**_ " The skeletal girl replied.

Chara got angry, "Enough lies!" She summoned an undodgeable ring of knives around Verdana, "What? You thought I'd play fair? Hahaha, don't make me laugh!"

" _ **Go AHead**_ ," Verdana said, unconcerned for the knives. If the Entity could only do one damage to her, Chara wouldn't do a thing.

As the knives went for her, the knives suddenly all turned blue and flew back at Chara, forcing her to dodge them. Sans suddenly slid in with his usual lazy smile. Verdana's sockets widened at his entrance.

" _man, can't a guy just have five minutes to talk on the phone?"_ He said with a shrug, " _heya little skele, this situation doesn't seem very knife, does it? here, i'll throw ya a bone."_ He said with a light chuckle. He suddenly formed a single green bone and threw it at Verdana, restoring the HP she lost earlier.

" _ **I am the legendary fartmaster"**_ , Sans narrowed his sockets at the little skeleton and shrugged, " _gee, that was inappropriate. such immaturity…"_ He said with a chuckled before using his magic to form an impenetrable wall of blue bones between them and Chara.

" _ **Sans, I do not know if we are back in time or not, but listen. You are my brother in the future, and were killed by something called 'The Entity'. I require your assistance to return there so I may deal with it,**_ " Verdana explained to the skeleton, whispering to him. She knew he could act like he didn't know, so this shouldn't alter the timeline too much.

Sans shrugged, " _gee, and here i was simply guiding alex to snowdin… but i think i can manage…"_ Then, after a moment, Sans spoke, " _now that you mention it, this does seem rather familiar. maybe if you win, you'll go back? i'm not sure why, but i get the feeling that talking about chara's adopted family might be the key…"_ He told Verdana with a wink.

Suddenly, the wall gave way to Chara's slashes, "Get outta here you stupid comedian! This is just between me and her!" She yelled, pointing at Verdana.

Sans smirked and shrugged, " _guess it's straight to the point, eh?"_ Chara leapt as Sans, who easily sidestepped the attack.

" _ **How would Toriel feel about you attacking us? Asgore? Asriel?**_ " Verdana asked the ghostly human. Chara stiffened and stared at Verdana in shock…

She bowed her head slightly, allowing her hair to block her red eyes from view. "...Azzy…" Suddenly, Chara got angry and screamed into the darkness about them, "Why didn't you bring him back Gaster! WHY!?" She screamed as she fell to her knees in defeat. The darkness around all of them shifted violently.

"I…" She paused, looking up at the young skeleton who caught her eye, "I'm sorry… I n-never wanted to hurt monsters…" The darkness shuddered around Verdana as the illusion broke. The ghostly Chara and Sans vanished, leaving only the Entity in front of her once more. She appeared in front of him and grabbed his throat, snarling. She had fangs now.

* * *

Alric's vision returned as he was enveloped in cold. He looked around to see he was on the outskirts of Snowdin, close to where the River Person was. Before him stood Grillby… err, rather a paler, more menacing version of Grillby. It seems he was in a fight against Grillby…

 **{Music Swap: Megalovania Reversed Remix}**

He readied his revolver, ready to take down this version of the bartender, but he paused when he heard a voice from beside him, "HUMAN, LISTEN QUICKLY! DON'T MOVE ON BLUE, BUT YOU MUST MOVE ON ORANGE!" Papyrus quickly told Alric.

Alric already knew these rules, but he still heeded his friends advice as blue flames enveloped the arena around him. As per Papyrus' advice, Alric remained still, preventing damage. Sure, the damage would be minimal, but he still hated the feeling of his HP decreasing. After a moment, the fire dissipated for a moment. Not soon after, they returned as orange flames, forcing Alric to keep moving back and forth to avoid damage.

Alric wanted to attack Grillby. With his power, he'd be dust in no time… but Papyrus was here. He couldn't possibly do anything to hurt him, even if this was not real… wait a moment… he recognized this fight now. This was when Alex and Papyrus fought a Gaster-controlled Grillby.

He now knew what he had to do! While it was his turn, Alric loaded his revolver with a few Silver bullets imbued with Purity magic. He held it firmly and fired a single shot, hitting Grillby directly in his white monster soul.

For a moment, Grillby's flames returned to their proper color, but quickly undid themselves and became gray once more. Papyrus was beaming though, "EXCELLENT WORK HUMAN! THAT SEEMS TO BE WORKING!"

Alric couldn't help the smile that formed on his face as he proceeded to navigate around waves of alternating orange and blue flames. All of his previous combat experience was really paying off, as he managed to easily dodge every attack. As he then began to throw white fireballs at Alric, he fired another shot, hitting him in the soul once more.

'Hmm, it seems that my Purity bullets are weaker than Alex's Soul. It'll probably take another shot.' Alric thought to himself as he continued. He rolled to the side under another set of fire balls as he fired one final shot, hitting Grillby perfectly.

Instantly, the attacks stopped and Grillby became orange once more. Then, the world began to fade, until the world grew less cold and the other two monsters vanished. Alric was now back before the Entity. He rushed forward to find Verdana doing the same, just barely beating him to the Entity. She held him tightly by the throat as he readied his revolver.

* * *

Chara felt rocks appear all around her as she found herself near the entrance to Hotland from Waterfall. This was where she and Frisk fought Undyne. She looked to her side to see Undyne standing there in her armor… but she wasn't preparing to attack you… she was preparing to attack… Mettaton?

 **{Music Swap: Death by Glamour}**

Mettaton Neo appeared before the two of them, appearing to glitched and shudder repeatedly. "Mettaton?" Chara asked the monochromatic robot, who should have definitely had pink aspects to this armor.

" _ **If you g-give me your Soul, I will return Frisk. It's as easy as that!"**_ The Gaster-controlled Mettaton told her. She wasn't going to accept these terms! She did, however, remember Alex's and Undyne's story about this incident. How did it go again? Let's see, they tried to Purify, but it didn't work… they… they… That's it! They had to wait for Alphys to appear!"

Together, with Undyne, Chara began to move quickly as they dodged Mettaton's attacks. It took quite a bit of time, but Chara had grown accustomed to fighting over time, and easily dodged his attacks. Although… she did refuse to dance with Undyne. She wasn't ready for that, and neither was Undyne.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Alphys returned with Napstablook and Papyrus. Soon enough, he was deactivated and the world began to shudder around her. Suddenly, she was back with her friends and family, standing before the Entity. She rushed behind Verdana to give her support, while she saw Alric following closely behind and to the side.

* * *

Alex and Frisk felt tile form beneath them. Frisk, who had just regained consciousness, noticed their surroundings first. "J-Judgement Hall…" Frisk said as she sat up. Alex looked around and confirmed they were, indeed, in a form of the Judgement Hall in the Underground. That, however, was not the worst part of all of this…

Standing before the pair was Sans the skeleton. Both of his sockets were closed as he said his infamous line, " _it's a beautiful day outside. birds are singing, flowers are blooming… on days like these, kids like you…"_ He opened both eye sockets, which were empty, as he spoke in a deeper, more threatening voice, " _ **should be**_ _ **burning in hell**_ ".

 **{Music Swap: Megalovania}**

Alex knew what was happening. He quickly picked Frisk up to her feet as they immediately began running in anticipation. Just like he thought, Sans' eye began to glow in a pale, black and white flame as he sent his first attack at them. They felt their Souls turn blue as gravity increase. Upon instinct, they both jumped, narrowly dodging the bones that came out of the floor.

Alex and Frisk both then got through the walls of bones and Gaster Blasters, before Sans' attack ended. Sans shrugged, " _huh, always wondered why people never use their strongest attack first."_

Frisk turned to Alex in panic, "Wh-what's happening?" She questioned quickly, knowing their turn would be forfeited if they took too long.

Alex frowned, "This is exactly like when I was trying to rescue you way back when. We need to Purify him, but he'll just keep dodging…" Alex needed to find a way to do this quicker than before. Simply waiting Sans out would take way too long. Then, he got an idea.

Alex aimed and quickly fired a beam of Purity magic from his Soul as he explained to Frisk, "If you use your magic, perhaps you could tire him out more quickly by keeping him on his toes!" Frisk nodded in understanding as Sans effortlessly dodged Alex's first strike.

Sans stroked his chin, " _pretty crazy huh? i thought you'd be using that…"_ Sans said, pointing a hand to Alex's open hand. He had forgotten. Sans sees him as a genocidal Chara, not as the innocent, friendly person he normally is. Sans shrugged, " _whelp, guess it's my turn."_

Just like the first time they battled, Sans summoned various floating platforms, which Alex and Frisk jumped up to as bones covered the floor. Behind them, they could hear the sounds of Undyne's and Toriel's protests.

Platform to platform, the two of them jumped. While doing so, Frisk sent several red orbs of magic at the skeleton, forcing him to dodge too and waste his limited stamina. Soon enough, Sans' attack ended and the two humans landed back on the ground. Alex wasted no time firing another round of Purity magic at the controlled skeleton.

Like before, he dodged easily, but sweat could be seen forming on his skull. He was getting tired at a much quicker pace than before. Their plan was working.

Sans quickly sent his next attack forward while simultaneously dodging Frisk's projectiles. Together, the two of them continued to tire him out and dodge his attacks over the course of the next few turns. Finally, the moment they were waiting for came.

A single beam of Purity managed to hit Sans' Soul, causing color to seep back into his eye socket. He looked confused and weary.

" _h-human? i-i'm ok?"_ He asked in shock. Frisk was ready to run forward and comfort Sans, now that he stopped attacking and was willing to spare them. Alex, however, saw through this… the memories of his previous encounter flashed through his mind.

' _That's when the pain erupted through your chest. You gasped for air as you cried out in pain. Your scream was unsettling. Horrifying.'_ Alex shuddered, remembering the feeling of those bones. Before Frisk could take another step forward, Alex released another beam from his Soul, which managed to hit Sans in surprise.

Sans stumbled back as an inky, shadow-like substance evaporated from his glowing eye socket. He looked around in confusion before seeing Alex and Frisk, immediately retracting his attacks and bone wall behind them. Now, he was freed.

Before they could say anything to each other, the entire hall gave way and faded into darkness. Now, instead of Sans, the Entity stood. Alex and Frisk ran forward with the other three to confront the Entity.

* * *

 **{Music Swap: Whatever you had playing at first}**

The Entity stood there, staring into the now even-more-enraged Verdana, who held him by his throat. He saw Alric, Alex, Chara, and Frisk standing beside her as they backed her up. He smirked and shrugged, " **What? See something you didn't like?"** He smugly asked Verdana, not flinching in the slightest despite the pain in his neck.

" _ **GiVe Me A rEAson NoT to RiP Your THROAT OUT wITH my TeeTH**_ ," Verdana snarled at the entity.

The Entity shrugged, using one of his hands to use a bit of magic, " **Because… I can give you all what you want…"** Suddenly, beside the Entity, a cage made of darkness appeared, containing a confused Error Sans. He looked around, wondering where he was, before spotting the Entity. The Entity looked at Alric, " **You didn't have the opportunity before, but now you can kill him. Avenge the deaths that he's caused."**

Alric paused for a moment and hesitated. Error deserved this… but was now really the time? In the middle of this fight? And, in all likelihood, this was probably another trick...

The Entity paused for a moment, continuing to smile as he looked at Alex and Frisk. " **Both of your parents are gone. What if I could bring them all back?"** He looked at Verdana, before motioning to far off in the distance, where Rindie's saplings could be seen. " **What if I could bring Rindie back too? Jordan certainly hasn't allowed any of this, but I can give it to you..."** The Entity reasoned.

" _ **HoW do WE know ThAt yOu won'T jUsT mAkE IlluSiONS tO FooL Us?**_ " Verdana challenged with another snarl.

The Entity looked over at Error Sans, " **Well, he's real, that's for sure. I have no further need for him… So destroy him Alric, like you've always wanted."**

Error Sans' sockets filled with fear and helplessness, " _Y-you double crossing Entity… You never were going to free the kid, were ya?"_

The Entity shrugged, " **You would've never known if you would've died like you were supposed to…"**

" _ **WoW. WaY to SHOW us nOT to TRUST you,**_ " Verdana deadpanned at the idiotic entity. Didn't really think this one through now did you?

The Entity sighed with a frown, " **So, no takers?"** Alric shook his head, knowing he'd deal with Error Sans later. He shrugged, " **Whelp, guess it's your turn now…"** He said nodding toward Alric.

 ***The Darkness is shifting against you.**

 ***Jordan is laying immobile, unable to do more than watch.**

Alric nodded, spinning his revolver on his finger for a moment. Smiling, he gripped it mid-spin and fired a Justice-imbued shot into the Entity's Golden Soul, sending him back several feet and out of Verdana's grasp. The Entity doubled over for a moment as he took deep, pained breaths.

" **Damn! I forgot how painful Soul-based injuries were…"** He said as he recomposed himself. He smirked a bit despite the pain, " **Anyone else up for another trip down memory lane?"**

In response to this Verdana hit him as hard as she could in the back of the head, trying to knock him out. His face hit the smooth, dark ground beneath him hard. He groaned for a moment as he forced himself back up. Ok, that one really didn't feel nice… After standing back up, he looked at the five of them.

" **So… my turn… who's up for a bit of FEAR!?"** The entire arena flashed pink, blocking the Entity from sight for a moment. In his place stood a few, familiar individuals.

Betty and Akumu stood before them smirking and giggling madly, while a demonic Chara stood to their right and Error Sans stood to their left.

"~Hehehehe, time to plaaaayyyyyyy~!" Betty teased. Verdana just looked bored, summoning her DT blasters around the ground and firing. Her _normal_ blasters would give them trouble, amped up? They had no chance.

As they fired, a shield appeared around them, stopping their imminent deaths. Standing with them now was Asriel, the God of Hyperdeath. The Entity's laughter echoed all around them, " **You didn't think it'd be that easy, did you?"**

As soon as the shield went down, the fear-imbued Error Sans rushed forward with this strings and attacked Alric, who countered with his revolver. Betty and Akumu came forward together, aiming for Verdana. The God of HyperDeath and evil Chara came at Chara, Frisk, and Alex, who worked together to dodge his initial attack.

Verdana trapped the two fearlings and herself in a field of green shielding, launching red Blasters and Chargers at the FEAR creatures. As quick as they were, the two of them were unable to dodge the blasts. However, Akumu enveloped Betty with himself and managed to shield her from all damage, taking most of it himself.

This was the worst possible thing he could've done. With them unable to move now, she repositioned the blasters all around them, Verdanas original blaster above them and charging up briefly before the lasers came from all sides. Betty was heavily damaged by this attack, barely holding herself together.

She looked up at the skeleton, managing to giggle despite her situation, "Ehehehehe~ You're all alone~ They don't want you, just like in the nightmare~!"

Verdana appeared in front of Betty, skewering her with her tail. Betty's pink Soul shuddered for only an instant, before cracking and shattering. Just like her Soul, her form shattered and scattered like dust, just as Akumu was doing the same now that this 'Betty' was dead.

Much like this version of Betty and Akumu, the other versions of Chara, Error Sans, and Asriel were all weaker than when they first fought them. Or maybe they were all simply better at combating them? Maybe both?

Regardless, Alric quickly overpowered this shadow of Error Sans, blasting him to bits with his revolver. Alex, Chara, and Frisk worked together to overpower the God of Hyperdeath, who lacked the Souls to give him power. The Ghostly Chara was also soon overpowered by the four of them as well, leaving only the five of them behind.

Soon enough, they regrouped to find the Entity smiling before them. " **Ahahaha, I forgot how much fun it was to watch you guys beat them… Isn't this fun?!"** He teased them with a smile. Alex quickly responded by firing a beam of Purity at the Entity's Soul. He staggered back a few steps, " **Now, now, that wasn't very nice…"**

He was answered by a tail skewering him from behind. The Entity looked down at the tail sticking out of his chest. He frowned and actually coughed, spitting up a few specks of black tar for a moment. He continued to frown, " **You… you know what Verd?"** He began, taking a deep breath before continuing, " **You're much more of an annoyance than I thought you'd be… but I think it's time for a time out…"**

He reached out and grabbed her tail with both hands and send golden magic into her bones. A moment later, she vanished, reappearing in the middle of the only part of the Void that wasn't Void. She now stood in the center of the ring of saplings that Rindie's death created, on a small island of land in the water. It was… actually quite serene and calm here, despite the darkness and void around her.

Verdana paused and seemed to zone out in the center of the saplings.

* * *

Meanwhile, back with the Entity, the four humans stood there in shock when they saw Verdana vanish. The Entity chuckled, " **Ahh shoot, there goes my turn. Oh well…"** He told them, not sounding the least bit worried.

 ***4 left. =)**

 ***Jordan struggled against the darkness. Almost free…**

Chara knew what she'd do, and sent dozens of red knives at the Entity's Soul. He made no attempt to dodge as every single knife hit him square-on. He shuddered and flinched upon each impact, but other than that, he seemed unharmed.

" **Is that all? What a shame… my turn…"** He said with a smile, quickly deciding how he would do this next turn. " **How about… this?"** He raised both hands suddenly, causing countless tendrils to erupt from the ground around them.

Alric began immediately, blasting the majority of them away, swapping his normal magical bullets for ones imbued with fire magic (Thank you Toriel). As most of the darkness was burned away by the yellow flames, Alex, Frisk and Chara ran forward to close the gap between them and the Entity.

A large portion of the darkness formed into a single mass as it attempted to destroy the advancing humans. Luckily, they have become quite good at dodging, as they all rolled out of the way to the side, avoiding that attack. Continuing to run forward, Alex got and idea and called for Chara and Frisk to cover him.

In response, as Alric took care of the majority of the other attacks, Frisk and Chara used their Determination magic to destroy the attacks and clear a path to the Entity. Weaving back and forth, between many surviving attacks, Alex made it to the Entity unscathed.

Before the Entity could try to respond, Alex reached out and grabbed the Entity's Soul in an attempt to absorb some of his Creativity. The moment his fingertips touched the soul, Alex's arm erupted into gold and silver flames. He let go as he was flung through the air, landing on his back several dozen feet away as he screamed in pain.

Alex looked down to see two surprising things. His Soul was still completely Silver, having not gained any Creativity at all from that. The second things was his HP, which had somehow been reduced to 1. What happened?

The black tendrils all disappeared as the Entity's attack ended. Rather than attack immediately, the other three humans ran over to Alex in an attempt to help him. The Entity smiled and laughed, " **Oh, I must have forgotten to mention… Purity and Creativity are incompatible. Oops, silly me, being forgetful…"** He teased.

Chara pulled out a half-eaten monster chocolate bar and gave it to Alex, replenishing his lost HP. This fight was not progressing much at all. They needed something, anything, to even the odds.

Alric tried something he hadn't done in a long time. He put all of his magic into a single, magical bullet and loaded it into the revolver. Every trait and type of magic he had mastered was put into this bullet. He whipped it out and aimed at the Entity for only a moment, before firing. It was almost like slow motion, as it flew through the air and impacted the Entity's Golden Soul. The entire Void flashed white for a moment.

In the Entity's place stood a pile of ashes and the shattered remains of his Golden Soul. The four of them shouting and cheered in success, praising Alric… That is, until they saw the ashes and Soul Shards moving and reforming…

 ***But he refused...**

* * *

Back at Rindie's Nature Shrine-Island-Thing, Verdana felt the Hate and anger within her diminish. Their holds loosening their grip on her Soul. Something about this serene peace of nature in this endless void was calming, allowing Verdana's head to clear up and let her think rationally once more.

This Entity seemed unbeatable. Sure, he was showing clear signs of pain and discomfort, but everything that should be killing him was only simply scratching the surface. Every sign of pain or discomfort quickly disappeared and was replaced by the Entity's smug cockiness. Hate wasn't doing her anything towards killing the Entity.

Despite this, she still felt one thing. One very crucial thing to how these worlds worked. She felt… _**D-E-T-E-R-M-I-N-E-D.**_ With that, several things happened in quick succession. She grew horns on her head to match her blasters, her original ones. Her eyes went from dark red to a light variant, devoid of the HATE while keeping the DETERMINATION.

She grew up to a little bit over Charas height, effectively reversing the way she'd need to look at her now. Two large wings formed on her back, red energy covering them to give them functionality.

The streaks on her face turned red as well, and as a final thing… her body filled with a translucent energy, able to be seen through if you really _looked_ , but giving her almost pink skin, her tail still sharp with the energy tight over it. She turned to the fight and flapped her wing, flying in that direction.

When she arrived, she saw the charred remains of the Entity reform back into his shadowy self once more. He was smiling, before looking up and seeing Verdana in her new DT-Filled form. " **Ahh, welcome back Verd. Previously on 'The Entity is Winning', I was just killed, only for our heros to realize that even Death cannot hold me…"** He said jokingly.

Verdana didn't reply, simply snapping her new energy fingers. Her original blaster, Varela the size of the _moon_ and multiple the size of _continents_ appeared. The Entity's smile faltered for a moment, " **Man… those are HUGE!"** He said over-dramatically.

The blasters whine was deafening to the entity while somehow not harming the others in the slightest as the red blasters fired down on him. He covered his head with his arms in a feeble attempt to shield himself from the incredible amount of energy washing over him.

Within seconds, he was reduced to a pile of dust and ash once more, as his Soul shuddered in the air above it. After a moment, it cracked in half…

 ***But he Refused…**

The two halves slammed back together as the dust and ash reformed into his normal human-like appearance. He was frowning, " **Shit, that hurt. You knowing, dying still hurts regardless of its hold! And DAMN, that was worse than anything I've ever felt!"** What the Entity didn't notice, however, was that when he died his attacks vanished, releasing Jordan from his prison on the ground and Error from his cage.

The Entity, after a moment, spotted Error Sans, and made him vanish, likely either destroying him or worse. He turned to Alric with a smile, " **See, easy as cake. I would've given you the honors, but you all declined…"** He turned to look at Verdana, " **So, can't we just take a moment to reconsider my offer? I'm a very forgiving man. I won't hold this whole 'incident' against you…"**

" **You cannot kill me.** " Verdana said neutrally as her blasters charged. " **Revert everything and leave, or I will kill you. Again. And Again. And Again.** _ **Forever**_ **. I will not be tiring or dieing anytime soon.** "

The Entity frowned and shook his head, " **Sorry to disappoint you sweetie, but I'm not here to kill any of you. You saw how effortlessly I destroyed Error. Maybe not you or Rindie, but I could certainly erase Chara with a simple thought… but as I said, I'm not here to kill or destroy, I'm simply here to negotiate."**

Verdana looked at him like he was a idiot. " **And boot me with HATE beyond what I already have?** " She questioned the Entity. " **You must be very masochistic.** "

The Entity, despite the situation, managed to laugh. After a few seconds, he calmed down and spoke, " **Look Verdana, maybe this part of my plan wasn't perfectly planned out… but that kinda stuff happens when there's an Unknown Variable involved, like you…"**

Verdana tilted her head. " **You killed my family and then said you did not plan on destroying. You sent someone here with full intentions of betrayal and abandonment. You have TOLD US all of this. Why would** _ **ANYONE**_ **consider negotiating with you, ever?** " Verdana questioned the entity. She had nothing to worry about, after all.

The Entity couldn't help a sigh escape him, " **This was supposed to be simple. Error should have died, fulfilling Alric's sense of purpose, and Alex was supposed to agree with me and not side with Jordan… but…"** He paused for a moment, looking to the side, " **It appears that we have reached an impasse…"** He said with a frown.

" **Why do you truly want Sower gone? To take over in his place? If it was as simple as what you originally suggested, you could have entered when Core and Rindie did and simply told us.** " Verdana said, pointing out the most glaring hole in his plan if he'd been honest until now.

" **Because… up until Error weakened his Soul, it would have been fruitless. I could've appeared and told you the truth, but he would've panicked and done something to stop me…"** He answered.

" **Do you KNOW that, or did you assume?** " Verdana asked as the blasters kept slowly charging.

He pointed where Jordan laid, free from his bonds, " **Look at him! Do you honestly think he'd allow anything to jeopardize his place in this timeline? He'd do everything in his power to remain close to you all, hence why he was always there. Think about it! During the group dinner, the QMA malfunction, the Dance, the bullying, Betty, Alric, everything. He was always there! Was there ever an important or significant event in which he wasn't present?"** He exclaimed, his hands glowing gold as magic filled him despite the power he was facing.

Verdana was unfazed. " **Half of those were things he was invited to of our own free will, and the other half he likely did to ensure we were okay. Are you telling me a friend protecting a friend is wrong, Entity? You really need to learn to look at things from other perspectives,** " The energy full skeleton said.

" **But. He. Doesn't. Belong. Here!"** He said as he leapt toward her despite the energy he knew she had. Verdana swatted him away like a fly.

" **Neither did , Neither do I.** " Verdana said calmly as she summoned light blue bones with a red tint around the Entity, trapping it in place.

Alric managed to return to his feet after using all of that magic to kill the Entity. He shouted from his position beside the other Dreemurrs, "And me neither. I don't belong here… but here I am, accepted by them… unlike you!" Alric said, pointing his revolver at him.

Verdana agreed, nodding, " **You should let the universe inhabitants decide if guests belong. It is not your Choice. They have accepted me, and Rindie, and Alric, and Mr. Sower. We do not accept** _ **you**_ **.** "

 **{End of Music}**

* * *

While the Entity and Verdana debated existence and the sense of belonging, Jordan used this opportunity, now free from his bonds, to crawl over to the others. They were all exhausted. Alric was slowly regaining his magical energy, while Alex, Frisk, and Chara were all recovering from the fight so far. Hopefully, when Alric regains his energy, his and Verdana's combined will be enough to destroy the Entity… but they weren't sure if even that would be enough.

Alex noticed Jordan sitting beside the four of them now, looking down in shame. "I'm… I'm sorry guys…" They all understood what he meant, and felt sorry for him. After a moment of silence, he spoke, "It doesn't matter how much energy or power Verd has, she can't kill him… and honestly, he wouldn't mind being trapped in endless death. As long as he is trapped, the rest of you are all trapped too…"

Chara looked at the ex-teacher, "Then what do you propose we do? Let him win?"

Jordan shook his head, "No, I know how to stop him… but I need Alex…" Alex looked, as did everyone else, and saw that he was holding the magical pen and the paper from earlier, which still read 'The Entity of Darkness."

Alex frowned, "But it didn't work…"

Jordan Sower shook his head, "That's because you didn't use it properly. You don't just write someone's name… you have to write a sentence. Simply writing his name is no different than writing the word 'hamburger' or '42'. It's just a word. But a sentence… a sentence has power and meaning.

Alex's eyes opened widely, realizing the simple mistake. Jordan handed him the paper and pen, "Be careful what you write though. There is always the possibility for mistakes and loopholes…"

Alex nodded and touched the pen back to the paper, sending out a shockwave of energy in every direction. This gained the Entity's attention, making him panic instantly.

" **What?! NO!"** He screamed, using his golden magic to easily destroy the cage he was in. He sent a wave of darkness towards Alex. Verdana was suddenly there, wrapping her wings around him, the darkness sliding off the appendages and off into the distance. The Entity struggled, momentarily throwing her out of his way as he ran towards them. He couldn't allow this!

Alric, with some magic returned, fired another overpowered shot at the Entity, vaporizing him once more. Unfortunately, this lasted even less time than before, as he was up and moving again within seconds. He took off once more towards Alex.

It was then that he was reminded of the blasters charging above when their energy washed over him before he could get much further, making him ash once more. The ash and dust quickly reformed, but the moment he did, he collapsed to his hands and knees, on all fours. He… He felt… powerless.

Alex looked down at the paper with satisfaction.

' _The Entity of Darkness felt their Creativity crumble, reducing his SOUL to it's natural color.'_

The Entity looked down at his Golden SOUL as the gold pigment turned into a liquid, sliding off of his SOUL and evaporating before he could try to stop it as he tried in vain to catch the gold. Behind, it left his normal SOUL, shining a dull cyan with black cracks all over it. The darkness clouding his features twisted and shuddered, staying behind to mask his appearance, but taking away his power. " **N-N** OOooo!"

Verdana saw her chance. With a mental will, his SOUL went from cyan to blue and he was stuck on the ground. Pulling her arm back, the roar of the blasters charging for one last volley was heard. In one last attempt, the Entity used his SOUL to turn his entire body cyan, hoping this would prevent any damage as long as he remained still.

At the last second, her blasters bows went from red… to orange, firing down on the entity that had caused grief for the skeleton. When the dust and debris from the blast settled, there was nothing remained of the Entity. Not even ash, dust, or Soul Shard. Everything was vaporized instantly now that he lacked his former power. He was so vaporized, Verdana didn't even gain any EXP.

Everyone stood up and walked over to Verdana, Alex having given the pen and paper back to Jordan. When he got over there, Alric looked at him, "Even though you saved us, we still have quite a bit to discuss about you when we get back."

Jordan frowned, but nodded, "I- I understand." He sat down and began writing on the piece of paper, now that he had the most Creativity in the Universe. As soon as he finished writing, the world faded to white around them.

' _The Entity of Darkness felt their Creativity crumble, reducing his SOUL to it's natural color. With the battle won and over, the Void went in reverse, turning a bright white color. It was as if the damage never occurred, as everyone from the battle reappeared in the Dreemurr household… minus the Entity, of course…'_

* * *

Verdana immediately leapt on and hugged her family when she saw them, wrapping around all three of the older skeletons tightly with her wings. Everyone who did not participate in the battle was confused by her current form, and the lack of the Entity. But now, they had something else to worry about… what would be Jordan Sower's fate now?

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **File Date Corrupted…**_

 _ **Overwrite Command: ACCEPTED**_

 _ **Restoring Previous User…**_

 _ **Success…**_

 _ **Welcome back SWR.**_

 _ **So, I've gained back control from the Entity and we shouldn't have to worry about him anymore… but I don't know how everyone's gonna feel about me, now that they know the truth...**_

 _Raz: *yawning* Hey, what happened? I fell asleep._

 _ ***glares at Raz* Thanks for the help… Anyway, I hope this battle was good enough, because it's been a long time coming. Show support or whatever… I'll see you next time, I guess… Next Chapter is Monday.  
**_

 _Raz: NEXT TIME ON DRAGONBA- I MEAN PURETALE!_

 _ **Will I be forgiven? Will I be allowed to stay? And what does Sans, Papyrus, and Gaster think about Verdana with wings? Find out in a few days!**_

 _ **-swrWriter**_

 _-bananaphone_


	34. The Fate of the Writer

Jordan Sower stood awkwardly before the other humans and monsters in the room. He held his left arm with his right and he put on a weak smile. The cat was out of the bag now. They all knew now… they knew everything…

What's even the point of hoping for forgiveness? He'd lied to them all, lost his job, hurt them all immeasurably with this 'Stories', and so much more. And for what? To give them a 'happier ending'? Some of the worst of actions in history had been done with 'the most pure of intentions', after all…

He smiled weakly and awkwardly, until he could no longer handle the awkward silence, "H-hey…" He said, hardly louder than a whisper. Everyone in the room turned to look at him, making him nearly shudder. Now, they all knew what had just happened. Verdana and Alric explained everything that had happened. Sure, he'd been the one to help Alex save them, but that didn't really excuse anything.

Ignoring the stares, Jordan continued to try to smile, "S-so…"

"I vote he's allowed to stay," Verdana said, still hugging her family and her voice having lost it's echo. It was an 'on off' kinda thing. Plus, she wasn't as hate-filled or determined as she was previously.

Toriel spoke up, "Jordan… is everything that they said true?"

Jordan slowly nodded, bowing his head slightly in shame. Toriel stood up suddenly and took a step towards Jordan. He flinched and took half a step back in fear. He had forgotten how protective of a mother she was. Before he could get any further, Toriel reached him and held him firmly. It took Jordan a moment to realize that she wasn't hurting him… she was giving him a hug…

The author broke down a bit and his knees slightly gave out as he returned the hug. He began to lightly sob into her shoulder as he apologized for everything. She simply help him in a hug for a moment, until he calmed down enough.

After he did calm down, she took a step back and let go of him. "Feel better?" She asked in her motherly voice. He nodded with a shaky smile, before taking a step back and leaning against a nearby wall.

Alric broke the silence with a question, "Wait, if you have all of this power, what's stopping you from fixing everything? You could restore my world!" He said, staring intently at Jordan with his glowing yellow eyes.

Jordan frowned and looked away, "I… I can't…" He said, sorrow coating his voice.

"What do you mean you can't? Is it that you can't, or that you won't?" He asked accusingly.

He sighed, "There's a limit to almost everything. My power is over this timeline in particular. But even then, I still have limits…"

"What kind of limits?" Asgore asked, having remained silent through most of the conversation.

Jordan looked at them as he spoke, "The biggest one is death. I can't undo death outside of Resets… but there are exceptions for special cases. Like Asriel still had his consciousness, and Chara still had her Soul." He explained, "And, as Creativity is my power, it is also my limit. If it is inconceivable or outside of my Creativity, I can't do it." Most of them nodded, understanding a bit more about his powers now.

"What about Rindie?" Verdana asked.

Jordan paused to think about it, "Hmm, it's seems possible. Rindie's death was, by no means, ordinary." He paused to think for a moment, "I'd need some time to find the workaround for this, but it should be possible." He admitted.

Gaster seemed quite relieved to hear this, " _ **Something to do with the saplings, perhaps?"**_

Jordan nodded, still thinking, "Yes, the saplings are a part of, and formed from, their essence… Hmm, with the power frequency of Soul power, and a bit of Creativity, we might be able to use them to restore Rindie…" He thought for a moment, recalling how the saplings were formed and what they looked like, "I think we'll need one person with each of the dominant seven traits." He motioned towards Frisk and Alric, "You two would work for Justice and Determination… maybe your girlfriend Isabel would work for Kindness…" Jordan added, looking at Asriel, whose fur was now red in embarrassment.

Alphys spoke, "Wh-what about Al-Alex? C-could he u-use Purity t-to supplement on-one of the t-traits?"

Jordan nodded, "That should work. That leaves three more traits…"

Verdana looked to herself, then to the three skeletons. "Daddy? Big brothers? Maybe you three could be the traits?" She suggested.

Sans spoke up, " _hate to break it to ya verd, but us monsters don't have enough power. granted the three of us have traits added to our monster souls, but that's not enough…"_

Jordan shook his head, "Actually, there may be a workaround. You see, another of my limitations are the rules and laws of the universe. Such as 'Energy cannot be created nor destroyed'. However, I could transfer some energy into you so that it would work."

"Maybe they can meditate in the Rindie saplings? That's how I got like this!" Verdana suggested as she gestured to her stronger and redder self.

"But you were created from Rindie's essence, making it easier for you. However, it could still work, but I can help it go a bit more smoothly." Jordan hypothesized. Verdana nodded to this.

Papyrus jumped up from his seat on the couch, "PERFECT! LET'S GO SAVE OUR MUTUAL FRIEND!"

Before he could get far, Sans spoke, " _pap, we still need azzy's gf."_

"She's not my girlfriend! I just like her, that's all!" Asriel shouted in anger, earning a few quiet laughs.

" _ **Why don't you call her, Asriel? See if she's willing to help."**_ Gaster reasoned.

"B-but she's probably busy with school or something." Asriel quickly tried, but Chara wasn't having any of that.

"Nice lie Azzy. School was cancelled today, remember?" Chara pointed out, embarrassing him further.

Sans smirked, " _it's ok asriel, i'm sure papyrus would be willing to go talk to her instead…"_ He teased.

Papyrus beamed, striking a heroic pose, "YES, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WOULD BE HONORED TO MEET THE FAIR MAIDEN THAT WON THE PRINCE'S HEART!"

Asriel instinctively froze in fear. Finally, after a moment, he bowed his head in defeat, "Fine… I'll go give her a call…" He said as he slowly stood up and trudged out of the room to talk on the phone in peace.

* * *

The world reappeared around the entire, large group of humans and monsters as they exited the shortcut. After spending a bit of time contacting Isabel, the skeletons brought the group to the crater. The crater was still surrounded by the differently colored saplings formed during Rindie's death.

There was a surprise whenever a person of the appropriate trait approached a tree. A button appeared when they did, which they found out when Frisk and Chara approached the red and RESET appeared. The two of them looked certainly uneasy, seeing that infamous button before them.

Jordan smiled warmly toward the two of them, "Do not worry, it is unable to fully Reset the timeline in its current state." He reassured them, which they appreciated.

As the rest of them approached the tree they were assigned to, the other buttons became more and more visible. Before Alric was a shining button labeled 'COMMAND'. Isabel, the Soul of Kindness, saw 'RESTORE' appear before her, causing her to pause and study the odd form of magic before her.

The three male skeletons watched as buttons appeared before them as well. For Gaster, he got 'OVERWRITE'. Sans saw 'BALANCE' appear before him, and Papyrus had access to the 'FAST FORWARD' button.

Alex nodded, noticing that a button was not appearing for him. Luckily, Gaster had thought of everything and provided him with a vial of Patience. He took a deep breath, injecting it into himself as his SOUL began to turn from silver to a shining cyan color. As soon as the first speck of cyan appeared on his soul, a button appeared for him too… 'PAUSE'.

Verdana, Asriel, Toriel, Asgore, Alphys, and Undyne all watched this display in fascination. Jordan smiled, watching the sight before concentrating, feeling the Creativity flow through him. He could feel the raw energy radiating from the buttons. They were certainly the answer to his 'workaround' that he'd been looking for.

"Alright, everyone sees their button, right?" Jordan asked, receiving a symphony of hums and 'yes'' in response. "When I say 'now', press them… all at the same time."

Jordan paused, feeling something resonating within his SOUL. He knew it was time. He looked up and smiled, looking at each of the seven of them at the saplings. "And… now!"

The moment they heard the word, they each pressed down their respective buttons, each one glowing brightly as they received their commands. The tree's glew, more and more. The light built up… before shooting into the sky in a pillar of energy.

As the pillar shot up, it slowly closed in on itself until a new beam was shooting down. Surprisingly, it wasn't rainbow. Instead it only had five colors. Red, Blue, Green, White, and Black. Some colors must have combined, while other parts likely had lost their energy and just became pure magic.

Either way the beam struck down on the island in the center. On the island, a SOUL formed. It was golden, mainly, with a grey core that had bits of the grey throughout the gold. This was seen only for a second before the sapling followed their beams, continuing to send magic even as the roots came with them.

When the roots reached the SOUL, they wrapped around it and formed a body. It vaguely looked like the one they were trying to revive, if they were made of wood… and naked.

Jordan had an idea… one that reminded him of why the Entity became as powerful as he did. Jordan had been foolish, forgetting that there was always a consequence for everything, and most magic couldn't be destroyed, only moved or transferred. He pulled out the paper and magical pen from earlier, looking down at the previous writing.

' _The Entity of Darkness felt their Creativity crumble, reducing his SOUL to it's natural color...' (And the other stuff about restoring the world…)_

Meanwhile, the tree-Rindie stirred on the island in the center. Jordan looked up as his pen hit the paper and he began to write another sentence.

' _The Entity of Darkness felt their Creativity crumble, reducing his SOUL to it's natural color…'_ It continued, ' _With the excess Creativity falling into the Void, it managed to latch onto someone else… someone who, once upon a time, knew of its power. Finding its way back, it latched onto Rindie's SOUL Shards as the buttons summoned them back.'_ He finished writing, hoping this would work… If this worked the way he planned, maybe this would even awaken the dormant Souls within Rindie.

The tree Rindie groaned as they sat up, looking around as if they just woke up from a nap instead of being dead. "Wha happened?" They mumbled groggily.

Sans called out quietly, " _B R B, gotta take the kiddo home."_ And with that, he vanished for a moment with Isabel, before returning moments later.

Alex, happy to see Rindie was alive again somehow, ran over to them and wrapped them in a hug, "I-I thought you were dead… I… I tried to save you, but… I couldn't." He admitted.

Rindie smiled a little. "'S cool. After life has like, a revolving door for me at this point, I exit and enter it so much," They said with a yawn, one of just waking up.

Alric approached them too, right behind Alex. Twirling their revolver on his finger for a moment, he grabbed it and fired a shot into the air, spooking quite a few of them. He grinned toward Rindie, "I knew the Great and Powerful wouldn't stay down…" He said teasingly.

Rindie snickered despite their plant form. "What's the longest I have? Like, I think the record was a month so far?" Rindie joked back to him. Suddenly there was skeleton hugging Rindie tightly, yet despite her new strength Rindie's form didn't even _creak_.

"Hey, it's alright, I'm back now," Rindie said gently to Verdana as they rubbed her back. "Like the energy form, those are _fun_."

Now everyone was crowded around Rindie, welcoming them back and telling them how much they all missed them. Jordan, however, still stood in his previous position, smiling warmly at the display but not making any move to join in.

"Hey, Jordan? What's the holdup? Come join in!" Rindie shouted over to him.

The ex-teacher shrugged and easily gave in, walking over to the group, "Hello Rindie, nice to see you again…" He paused, not knowing how much Rindie knew. He soon arrived not more than a few feet in front of Rindie.

Rindie rolled their eyes a little, the others noticing the left was darker than the right. They tapped the ground, and roots grew from it and pulled Jordan on over to join in the hug thing. He gave in with no resistance and joined in to the group-hugging session. He chuckled lightly for a moment, before he took a step back, looking around the crater before refocusing on Rindie.

"Is this a new form for you, or something?" Jordan asked with curiosity. Surprisingly Rindie nodded a little.

"I can safely say I never took the form of a tree before… I was a flower once. That was _weird_ ," Rindie said with a casual shrug in the hug. SHRUG HUG!

Alric eyed the tree-human Rindie for a moment, "So, oh great and powerful one, how much do you know?" He said, lacing a bit of his tone with sarcasm.

"All, you think I _wasn't_ watching?" Rindie asked with a grin.

Frisk's eyes opened a bit, "Wait, that's why this crater still existed in the Void with the Entity!" She realized, "You still had some power and consciousness still, despite being dead."

"Give them a prize!" Rindie said jokingly as they wriggled a little. "Alright, the hugs nice and stuff guys but really… I'm naked here."

Alric deadpanned, "Yeah, but you're also a tree. Last I checked, trees don't wear cloths."

"Tree's also don't tend to be sentient," Rindie shot right back, "Or humanoid."

Alric chuckled and shrugged, "Well, guess you got me there. I like your personality, it seems quite _rooted_ in you." He said with a smirk, earning a few groans and laughs.

"You were _waiting_ to use that one," Rindie said with a chuckle as they were let up, wriggling their wooden toes and hands a bit, obviously getting used to themself.

" _ **So Rindie, is your blindness gone now? And what about the Souls?"**_ Gaster asked as he took a step back to give Rindie a bit of breathing room.

"Well, sight seems to be functioning all fine, no glitching in me at all which is always good… and what did you think was in the roots ya goofy former goopy?" Rindie questioned with a wink.

Alric and Sans shared a laugh, earning a quick non-serious glare from Gaster. Sans pointed over his shoulder in no particular direction, " _since we're all finished up here, why don't we go somewhere more comfortable?"_ Alric nodded from beside him, " _so, why don't we make like a tree, and leaf?"_ He said before losing it and laughing with Alric.

"Alright, I know a _shortcut_ ," Rindie said with a grin. They tried to do the normal teleport, but instead everyone found themselves in the ground briefly before popping up in the lab. Rindie blinked a little at this.

* * *

The lab was no longer in shambles, which surprised most of them. Actually, it was almost as if the whole Error fight never happened. Alphys, Sans, and Gaster must have been putting in overtime to fix everything after that fiasco.

After getting over the shock of that 'shortcut' and the weird experience with the ground, they all walked over to one of the breakrooms to take a seat in the comfy chairs. "So that happened… guess I need to learn my magic _again_. This happens way too often…" Rindie grumbled, in their sweater… and nothing else. They really just wanted to wear their sweater again.

Papyrus smiled, "NOT TO WORRY, TREE RINDIE! I'M SURE YOU'LL MASTER YOUR MAGIC IN NO TIME!" He reassured Rindie with his bright smile.

"Thanks, Pap," Rindie said with a little stretch. "I still have that battle body, by the way. It's in my inventory." They added as an afterthought, trying to remember why their magic felt familiar.

Jordan watched Rindie closely for a moment, smiling. "So Rindie… seems you've earned some Creativity, huh?" He said.

Rindie blinked. "What?" They asked a little, not really having looked at their SOUL yet.

Jordan held his magical pen by the tip and pointed the other end at Rindie's chest, "You had at least a small amount of Creativity in your Soul while you were revived. I added a bit more though… to help stabilize the resurrection." He informed Rindie.

Rindie blinked before shrugged. "Well, thanks I guess. Not like I needed that to alter reality… but I feel something _else_ too… I can't seem to really _remember_ what it is… was there anything strange with my revival?" Rindie asked.

Jordan thought for a moment, "Hmm, your Soul was looking a bit gold… like a soul of Creativity… is that what you mean?"

Rindie shrugged a little. "Not really… my SOUL changes colors so often I just don't mind anymore, anything else?"

"Well, there was some grey in your SOUL, maybe remnants of Apathy?" Jordan shrugged to himself for a moment, "And there were a few colors that appeared while you were being revived." Jordan counted the five of them out on one of his hands, "There was red, blue, green, white, and black, I think…"

Rindie snapped their fingers… somehow. "Planeswalker magic! That's it!" They said with a small grin as they opened a small portal behind themself.

Gaster watched Rindie with curiosity. What'd they say? 'Planeswalker' magic? He'd never heard of that before… then again, he still had much to learn about the multiverse. There were certainly untold amounts of different types of magic, soul traits, and even universes… He really had his work cut out for him, but he wasn't worried.

" _ **What is that?"**_ He finally asked.

Rindie smiled, holding their hand out. With their palm spread, fingers outstretched, five motes of energy appeared, one for each finger and the thumb. "This stuff is. Planeswalkers get magic from the land around them, and use that for their spells and stuff. Planeswalkers are super rare, hardly ever with the potential to be ever become one." Rindie informed as they dismissed the motes.

Gaster nodded, " _ **Especially after being trapped in the Underground for so long…"**_ He added, adding this information to a nearby notebook with one of his magical hands.

"I'll tell you what each mean. Red is for Chaos, Impulsiveness, Freedom and Fury," They started, summoning a fireball with a single red mote they now had, having used the portal to bond to the world. "It's good for doing quick damage and stopping people from building power."

Alphys and Gaster nodded as they leaned forward a bit, absorbing this new information.

Dismissing the red fireball, they next summoned a bit of what looked like clockwork parts shining in blue. "Blue is the color of technology, intelligence and illusion. It works well for copying other effects to a lesser extent and denying your enemy the ability to do much of anything at all." Rindie said, before remembering something. "Also, blue is time for planeswalkers."

Gaster nodded again, continuing to take notes. With the threat of the Entity gone, they wouldn't likely need this information of battle-filled purposes, but it was nonetheless interesting. Gaster thought aloud for a moment, " _ **It almost sounds like red and blue are nearly opposites…"**_ He noted.

"Heh, wait until you hear about black and white," Rindie said with a grin as they dismissed the gears, leaves growing as hair on their head. "Now, green is _naturally_ Nature, Life and Strength. It's good for empowering, growth and protection, along with evolution. It's used to rapidly multiply and enhance your forces." They informed.

Sans pointed both hands at Rindie in the form of finger guns, " _eehhhh, good pun buddy. you're a real natural."_ He said with a chuckled.

"SANS, NOT NOW! WE'RE TRYING TO LEARN ABOUT WALKING ON PLANES!" Papyrus told him, trying his best not to smile from Sans' joke.

Gaster chuckled and shook his head, " _ **Anyway, what's this about black and white then?"**_

"Well, I'll start with white. White is energy, order, and resistance. Where green is good for enhancing groups with synergies and such, white tends to lean towards enhancing singular creatures to be better, but of course both can be used like this. White is also good for protection that makes stuff slide around you, like heat resistance that deflects the heat or a barrier to deflect arrows around you, and giving you low cost things," They informed as Rindie made a white orb of energy form into their hand.

Gaster nodded and thought for a moment, " _ **And black… is that the Void?"**_ He asked. Surprisingly Rindie shook their head.

"No, Black is quite different. It's Death, Decay, and Darkness, powerful like red but devious. Surprisingly it's good for Regeneration, and good for manipulation. You can also sacrifice health to acquire things. Now understand, it's not inherently bad, that depends on the user," Rindie said as they looked at everyone, a floating orb of blackness in their other hand.

Gaster nodded, having recorded all of it. " _ **This has all been very enlightening, wouldn't you say?"**_ He asked everyone else, earning several nods.

Sans smirked, " _yeah, i wood say it was pretty enlightening… sorry if that pun wasn't oak-ay, but i was kinda stumped on ideas."_ Papyrus screamed in dismay.

"YOU RUINED THE MOMENT SANS!"

Rindie chuckled. "It's fine, Papyrus," They assured as they dismissed the two orbs. Then everyone noticed something… or, more like the lack of something. Alric had been mysteriously quiet the entire time, neither chiming in nor laughing at Sans' jokes. In fact, he was nowhere to be seen. Wonder where he went…

"Where'd Alric go?" Rindie questioned. Rindie's question seemed to answer itself when they heard the sound of his revolver going off… in the basement level… where the Errors were being kept…

* * *

As soon as the entire group was brought to the lab, while everyone else was too disoriented to notice, Alric silently slipped into the basement level of the lab. He descended the staircase quickly and entered the large chamber, before finding what he came down here for.

Off to the side was a large see-through wall that allowed him to see into the smaller, lit up room. Sitting in there was Error Sans and Error Frisk, not even noticing his arrival. Soon enough, he made his presence known as he walked over to them.

"Good afternoon Error…" He said almost neutrally, a hint of anger and hate managing to form in his tone. Both Errors snapped their heads at attention and stared at the Judge as he made his way to the wall separating them.

Error Sans' smile turned into a frown as his sockets narrowed at Alric, " **Ahh, hello Alric… to what do I owe this pleasure?"**

Alric summoned his revolver to his hand and held it firmly, "I originally came down here to talk, but now… now I kinda want to blow your soul into an infinite number of shards." He threatened, knowing that the inhibitors in the room prevented this other Sans from having any sort of escape root or defense.

" **You came here to talk, huh?"** He asked, looking at Alric in disbelief, " **Last I checked, our talks end with little more than more death."**

Alric smirked, "Yes, but here you have no power… and no one to kill except for your dear little Frisky in there." He taunted, pointing the barrel of his gun at Error Frisk. They immediately recoiled and jumped to the side, hiding behind Error Sans.

Error shook his skull, " **Listen pal, if you're here to talk, then talk. I'm not stopping you."**

Alric shrugged, "Alright…" He began, twirling his gun on his finger, "I've got a few questions for you… you lie, you die. You get me?"

Error narrowed his sockets, " **And what reason would I have to lie anyway? I'm not hiding what I've done."**

Alric smiled, "Good. Now, first question: Why do you have it out for us 'mistakes' or 'errors'? You, yourself, were formed from an error as well, so I'd like to understand you…"

Error Sans couldn't help his chuckle, " **Ehehehe… You want to understand me? After all those times you've tried to destroy me, now you want to try?"** Both of Error's sockets darkened, " **Buddy, pal, chum… I think we're far past the 'friend zone'..."**

Alric was quickly losing his patience. It never was his strongest trait… He raised his pistol, before loading a few Karma-filled bullets into his revolver. He aimed it at the skeleton even with the wall between them.

" _ **Hostile Magic detected.**_ " A voice said from the labs speakers.

Alric knew this wasn't going to go perfect like this. Despite his anger, he dulled the magic in his revolver, stopping the alarm from fully triggering. Now he knew, the moment he tried something, a warning would be sent out…

" _ **Scanning… hostile magic not found. Deactivating…**_ "

Error Sans chuckled, " **Well, so much for your threats…"** He teased.

Alric's eyes began to glow a bit brighter, showing his increase in anger despite not using magic. One of his golden eyes, his left one, was now glowing blue. "I'm serious Error. Answer the question."

Error Sans shrugged, " **Would 'because it's fun' work for ya?"** Alric promptly glared at him, earning another shrug from the skeleton, " **Well, I'll put it like this… sure, I'm an error, just like you guys… but I'm an error with a purpose. I prevent other errors from existing. One or two, like us…"** He motioned towards himself and the Error Frisk behind him, " **That's simply just a few glitches. But a multiverse of them? That'd crash everything…"**

Error chuckled, " **If you think about it, I'm the real hero here. I destroy life not meant to exist so that the life that should can continue to do so…"**

Alric was done with this skeleton. He should never have agreed to let him live, knowing that he was both beyond reason and beyond saving. Nonetheless, his magic flared up quickly and refilled his revolver. Before the Lab's systems could even begin to complain again, he fired a shot into the speaker, destroying it and setting it ablaze in a purple flame.

Unfortunately, this had the effect of loud sirens blaring from the other speakers in the room, alerting the others. Alric covered his ears as the loud noises pierced his eardrums. In a quick panic, he let out a burst of energy from his SOUL. A series of bones, fireballs, spears, and lightning bolts flew in every direction, destroying most of the speakers and calming the noise down to a more manageable level.

Looking back to Error Sans, he and the other Frisk had backed up against the wall, knowing that Alric was serious now. He held his revolver firmly and fired another shot, aiming at the window separating himself from the Errors.

Unfortunately, the labs systems had put up the two way barrier, and the bullet shot back and went through his shoulder. He held it and winced in pain as the purple flames ate at his health. Summoning his Toriel's Soul, he healed himself and got rid of the Karma. He was only getting angrier…

"I can get through this barrier, I know I can…" he said, looking around his inventory as he spoke, "I know I have a barrier piercing round somewhere in here…" Unfortunately, just as he found it, some new arrivals appeared in the basement level. Alex, Rindie, and Jordan appeared.

Rindie tapped the floor with his foot, a mote of green mana being used to summon roots and wrap around Alric. Alric struggled for a moment, before the roots around him began to combust, the magical essence of these flames reminded Rindie of Toriel and Asgore.

Alric glared at Rindie, "You're not stopping me Rindie!" He aimed to the side and fired at the barrier, causing it to collapse, but also emptying his revolver.

Rindie sighed, and snapped their fingers. Two blue and a singular white brought Alric's magic down to weaker levels and subduing him temporarily, a collar appearing around his neck. Next, ten white and six of blue restored the barrier and lab to how it was before.

Alric reached at the new collar and tried ripping it off, but before he could even try to make progress Alex fired a concentrated beam of Purity magic into Alex's Soul, causing him to pass out. His unconscious form slumped to the ground as Jordan approached, picking up the child and holding him in his arms.

"Knowing Alric… he's not going to be happy when he wakes up…" Jordan commented sadly.

"He really shouldn't have gone and done this then," Rindie said simply as they shrugged. Soon enough, Gaster arrived into the basement level to see the Errors in the corner of their cell, huddled in fear, and he saw Jordan holding a passed out Alric. Gaster looked at Jordan, communicating exactly what Jordan was thinking.

"Well, the Entity's trap is gone, so we could send them back to their timeline…" Jordan told Gaster, who nodded while stroking his chin.

Rindie looked at the errors with a tilted head. They walked right through the barrier as if it wasn't there, calmly approaching them. Error Sans recomposed himself and stared down the tree-like Rindie. " **Wait a moment, you're that kid that died during our fight… welcome back to the land of the living."** Error Sans said, figuring it out quickly. " **So, what do you want? Here to finish our fight? Cause, uh, I'm kinda outta juice with these inhibitors…"**

"If I wanted you dead I could ERASE you from outside the barrier," Rindie replied neutrally, sitting down. "I want to help you. I hear you have memory problems?"

Error shrugged, " **Maybe I do, maybe I don't… I can't remember."** He said smugly with a smirk, seeing if he could get a rise outta Rindie like he did with Alric.

"Well, they seem worse than I thought… do you also have memory problems, E!Frisk?" Rindie asked gently. Error Frisk shook their head. Unfortunately, they remembered everything. "Then do you know if E!Sans does?"

This other Frisk thought for a moment. Error Sans seemed to remember just about everything… except, well… Except for their Genocide run, before he became an Error. Everything else he seemed to remember, and they almost felt it would be best to keep him that way, but didn't think lying would even work here. She held her index finger and thumb apart from each other by about an inch, silently telling Rindie that he might have a little.

Rindie nodded. They used some blue for memory and intelligence, white for keeping it in order and red and green for both the chaotic ness of their bodies and so this would adapt to them, making two necklaces'. "These will help you two keep any memories made from this point on, incase you glitch and lose them you can pull anything you need from these," Rindie explained as they held the two necklaces out to them.

Frisk sighed in relief and grabbed their necklace, putting it on quickly. Error Sans hesitated, but the other Frisk shook their head and smiled, forcing the other necklace over the skeleton's head. "They will also let me know if you need help. As long as your truce is still on, I will help defend you… but do not betray my trust. If you give unjust bad times… _**yours will be unimaginable**_." Rindie said.

Despite the small amount of fear in the back of Error Sans' sockets, he smiled like normal and replied sarcastically, " **Yeah, yeah. Sure thing. Whatever…"** Error Frisk gave him a light punch, " **Ow, what was that for, kiddo?"**

Error Frisk crossed their arms, "Stop being such a meanie." He only chuckled in response.

"Well, I think it should be safe for you to leave now. Keep him on a short leash, alright?" Rindie said to E!Frisk with a teasing grin towards E!Sans. Error Frisk nodded while Sans shrugged. Guess it was time to go home…

* * *

Alric, simply put, was not happy when he woke up back at the house. It was late at night and everyone else was still asleep. Alex had, once again, prevented him from getting rid of Error Sans. Quietly, he took a shortcut out of the house and appeared in the backyard. He looked up at the large, full moon that evening. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky tonight… reminding him of his old world… before the Errors.

As he sat there in almost complete silence, he could hear the voices of some of the monster Souls in his body. He silently apologized for not taking care of Error Sans yet…

His light smile formed into a frown for a moment as he sat there in silence. "Mind if I join you?" He heard from behind. Turning around quickly, he found Jordan Sower, the ex-teacher and 'Writer' of this world. Alric simply shrugged, allowing him to stay.

Jordan took a few steps before sitting down beside Alric, "It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" He commented.

Alric didn't reply for a moment, before nodding. He let silence fill the air before he spoke, his attention remaining towards the moon, "The Errors are gone, aren't they?" He asked. Before Jordan could respond, Alric continued, "I don't feel their glitch-ridden essence within this timeline anymore, so I'm guessing they were freed while I was out?"

Jordan smiled weakly and nodded, "Yes… both Errors are now back home in their own timeline… moving on. As should you."

"Move on? After everything he's done to me?" Alric jumped up from his spot and pointed to Jordan accusingly, "And you, what've you done for me? You've lied about who you were, you allowed the Errors to come here in the first place, and you've done so much more!" Jordan didn't respond, allowing Alric to finish.

Alric looked down at both of his hands, "I'm… I'm so weak here… in this timeline. Why does my magic feel so weak?"

"Maybe it's your hunger for revenge?" Jordan tried, only receiving a glare in response. Jordan sighed, "Or maybe that's my fault…"

Alric's angry expression became one of confusion, "What? You made me weaker?"

Jordan shrugged, "Yes and no. I put a failsafe into the timeline when I first began. Anything that crosses into the timeline by conventional means are weakened to a certain degree. It just so happens that most people that came here didn't use the portal." He paused, tilting his head, "For instance, Rindie came here after getting stuck in Alex's head, then teleported them both back into the timeline. The Entity made his own entrance, of course. But Betty, you, Error Sans, they were toned down at least a little bit, just to even the odds a bit…"

Alric looked back at his hands and frowned, summoning his revolver, "Then, why don't you undo it! I just got creamed by Rindie when they weren't even trying. I should've at least stood a chance!"

Jordan frowned and looked back up at the moon, "Some things are permanent… or will take a while, at least... but your power should return when you leave…"

Alric flinched and took a step away from the writer, "Wha-!?"

Jordan chuckled, "Sorry, forgot you're still getting used to me being… well, me. I know what you're planning… I know you've got a few things you need to go check on, so I won't stop you…" Alric looked away in shame as Jordan put a gentle hand on Alric's shoulder, "Just… you might want to say goodbye before you leave…"

Alric shook his head, "It'll be easier if I don't. I'll be back eventually…" He said, looking back up at the moon.

Jordan chuckled, "Well, if I found you so quickly, I'm sure at least one other has too…" He said, smiling up at the moon, waiting for another guest. Jordan looked down at his wrist, looking at his watch.

"So, what are we looking at?" Rindie asked as they formed next to them, also looking up, talking in a conspiratory whisper.

Alric flinched a bit, while Jordan chuckled softly. "It's a beautiful night outside. The Moon is shining, the lightning bugs are flying, on nights like these… people like us, will be saying goodbye… for a while."

Alric frowned and put out a thumbs-down, "Boooooooo, you're just trying to steal Sans' lines." Jordan couldn't help a chuckle.

"Not the worst of ripoffs in the multiverse," Rindie commented.

Jordan drooped his head in mock shame and sadness, "C'mon guys, gimme a break…" He said before he laughed a bit. "Anyway, Alric's heading out for a bit… right Alric?" Alric nodded slowly.

"I can record a goodbye for you," Rindie offered, summoning a camera with a little blue.

Alric smiled but shook his head, "No thanks…" He reached into his inventory and pulled out three folded pieces of paper, "But if you could do me a favor, I'd like you to give these to whom they belong tomorrow morning." One read 'Sans', one read 'Chara', and the other read 'Alex'.

Rindie nodded and took the pieces of paper, putting them up their sleeves. "See ya later," Rindie said as they dismissed the camera.

Alric smiled warmly despite his previous anger against Rindie, "It was nice to meet you face-to-face, oh great and powerful one." He said teasingly.

"Nice to meet you too, multiversal Judge," Rindie replied with a grin. "If I meet you again soon, I'll try and use my Plane magic to help you restore your world… I need more practice with it first though."

Alric shrugged, the moonlight illuminating the gesture, "Alright…" He then turned to Jordan, "And you. You've done a lot to this timeline, and I understand that a lot of it was for good reasons…" He paused as his eyes began to glow, his revolver appearing in his hand. "I've been watching you, much like how you've watched all of us. You've gained no LOVE, but… even after confessing everything, you've gained love… I still don't fully understand it…" Alric smiled and spun his revolver before placing it in an invisible holster on his hip.

Alric crossed his arms a bit as he continued, "This whole 'Entity' business had been complicated from the get-go. I've had my suspicions about you, but you hide your presence well. Yet, even with your identity unknown you tried to help us, not taking credit for anything that helped. Your modesty was high, but it also led to a bit of weakness against the Entity while we fought them. It being a good thing or a bad thing… that's ultimately up to you." He said, nodding toward Jordan.

"You were responsible for so much here. You allowed the resurrections of three prominent figures of this timeline: Chara, Asriel, and Gaster. You let Rindie and myself into this timeline, helping the residents here and even finding a new home for us. Despite the setbacks we all experienced, and the problems, you couldn't be held completely responsible. Especially with another 'Entity' trying to steal the timeline away for their own purposes." Alric unfolded his arms and put a hand on his holster.

"Despite everything, you've passed my judgement. I might not approve of everything that's happened… but then again, I don't really approve of much of anything." Alric chuckled before finishing, "Thanks for watching over this timeline Jordan… and I'll see you later too."

Jordan nodded with a large and genuine smile, tears nearly forming in his eyes, "Thank you Alric. That means alot, coming from you."

Alric nodded as his revolver vanished from sight. "Welp, I guess this is my cue to leave. I'll see you all later, I guess." And with that, he vanished from sight, leaving only Rindie and Jordan outside to admire the full moon. Jordan and Rindie could feel it… Alric was gone, leaving the timeline to head to another.

Jordan let a few moment pass by in silence as he stared at the moon. Finally he spoke, "Well, I guess that's that then? What about you Rindie? What do you plan to do from here?"

"Little of this, little of that," Rindie replied simply as the looked up at the moon. "I don't know, really. This is turning out to be the part of an adventure that is… sad, for me."

Jordan looked over at Rindie as he took a seat in the grass, "How so? You know, out of everyone here, you're the one I understand the least…" He said, chuckling.

Rindie sighed sadly. "Around this time… I need to go usually… or else things go so wrong…" Rindie mumbled.

Jordan shook his head, "Not this time…" He reassured Rindie, "This time, the only threat to this timeline… is me…" He said, while taking the magical gold and silver pen out of his coat pocket. The brilliant design of the pen appeared to be glowing under the moonlight. "But soon, that threat will be gone too…" He finished with a smile.

"You don't understand." Rindie said, voice sounding… broken. "I attract trouble. No matter what, my friends either die, the town is ransacked, my parents are murdered… again, and again, and again, no matter what I do, no matter what I try, something always stops me from just… living." They said. Wow, things got deep fast, huh?

Jordan sighed, "Have you ever encountered a world with another Soul of Creativity like me? As far as I know, it's pretty rare."

Rindie shrugged weakly, their form looking tired.

Jordan smiled reassuringly and place a hand on Rindie's wooden shoulder, "I promise you Rindie, I'll do everything in my power to preserve this peace… and that includes you."

"You may…" Rindie trailed off, before looking at us. The writers, the readers, the watchers. "But will _they?_ "

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **So, Alric is gone for a while and Rindie's opened up a bit. I, luckily, have been permitted to stay. In fact, they all still care about me… which is pretty nice.**_

 _Raz: You know, Rindies right. People tend to want sequels, and thus require conflict. We can't even do a AU, there's_ _ **one**_ _Rindie. One Rindie… all the pain. Because for them to leave the main, something needs to happen to it for them to leave it for an alternate._

 _ **Well never fear! There's an epilogue coming in a few days, concluding this adventure. Guess everyone will have to wait until it comes out for the conclusion to this epic saga… Thanks for reading all of this so far, everyone. Leave a review or something if you wanna express how you feel. Tell Rezas or alextisgr8 if you like their characters!**_

 _ **-swrWriter**_


	35. Epilogue

Jordan Sower stood outside the Dreemurr household. He had been invited for a dinner with the Dreemurrs, which really meant a lot to him. Despite everything, he was still extremely thankful that they had all both forgiven him and accepted him.

It has been a bit over six months since the Entity was dealt with and his true nature had been revealed to the monsters and humans. So much has happened in that span of time. Alric had returned after some sort of adventure to his timeline, Rindie was alive and well, although still a bit woody, and Gaster's research into the multiverse had gained him much knowledge.

After everything, Gaster had successfully documented dozens, if not more, different and unique SOUL traits. It just so happened that the first one he found was Fear, but he never made a similar mistake like that one. He'd also succeeded in mapping a decent portion of the multiverse, as well as discovering other types of magic. It seems that Creativity was truly unrivaled in the multiverse. To top it all off, there were barely any signs of it existing in most timelines… but it was still there, just hidden or well concealed.

The other three skeletons were doing perfect as well. After whatever happened with Rindie, Sans really hit it off with Alric and they became inseparable friends. Papyrus had become so successful and skilled at cooking that Grillby opened a second location and allowed Papyrus be be the head chef of the original. Verdana had grown a lot closer to Chara, spending most free time with her. They all seemed a lot happier.

After everything that's happened, Toriel and Undyne confronted the principal and managed to get Jordan's job back, defending him for the actions of his 'virus-ridden' computer. Speaking of Undyne, she and Alphys were still together and in their old jobs still, but much happier now that the threat of 'The Entity' was gone forever.

But, back to the present. The door before Jordan opened with Asgore filling the doorway. "Howdy Jordan. Just in time for dinner." He said with his usual goofy smile. His negotiations with the human governments have seemed to be going more and more in his favor. In fact, recently, Asgore managed to negotiate the open borders for all of Europe, The Americas, Australia, and many countries in Asia and Africa for the Monsters. All-in-all, the future had never looked brighter.

Jordan smiled back widely as he stepped into the house. The smell of Toriel's famous Butterscotch Pie overwhelmed his senses, almost causing his drool to leave his slightly ajar mouth. Luckily, he caught himself in time and prevented any embarrassing mishaps.

From the couch nearby, Alex and Frisk waved to him. They were both watching some sort of anime on the television, likely borrowed from Alphys. Alex's arm was around Frisk as she leaned against his shoulder. No matter how many times he'd seen them together, he could never get over how cute a couple they both made. Jordan nodded and waved back, letting them get back to their show.

He took a few steps further into the house to see Toriel taking the pie out of the oven to cool. She quickly spotted him and smiled widely, warming his heart a bit. "Ahh, Jordan. Glad you could make it!" She said, smiling as she walked over and enveloped him in a huge hug. He happily returned it for a moment, before she let go, "Pardon me, but I must finish preparing the rest of the meal."

Jordan shook his head, "It's no problem, Tori." He said reassuringly as she returned to the kitchen. The teacher looked to side to see outside into the backyard. Chara was out back, sitting under the largest tree in their backyard. In fact… he could make out Verdana's form sitting beside her. Something told him that she had snuck out of the house to hang out with Chara, but he wasn't 100% sure. He smiled anyway, happy to see Chara and Verdana happy.

As he looked outside, he heard someone clear their voice from his right. Turning to look, he saw Alric, reclined on one of the dining room chairs, watching the teacher carefully. "Sup teach." Alric said with a smirk, both feet up on the table.

Toriel, using her intense mother-senses, peaked around the corner and sent her motherly glare at Alric. He received the message loud and clear, shuddering from the look and quickly planting both feet onto the ground beneath him. Jordan couldn't help the snicker that escaped him.

Alric quietly chuckled, "Yeah, yeah, it's not that funny."

Jordan shrugged and smirked playfully, "I don't know, seemed pretty funny to me. The great and powerful Judge… all his power and might is no match for a mother's death stare…"

Alric chuckled and shrugged back, "Hey pal, you haven't been on the receiving end of one of those, so you can't talk!" Jordan laughed with Alric, too, for a moment. Whatever happened awhile back seemed to cheer Alric up quite a bit. He also seemed much less hostile towards Alex, which was a huge plus.

Asgore came walking by and cleared his throat to gain Jordan's attention, "Excuse me Jordan, would you care for a cup of tea?" Jordan smiled warmly and quickly nodded, having grown to love Asgore's famous Golden Flower Tea. Jordan was certain that he could get rich off of it if Asgore was willing to make a business out of it… but knowing the former-king as well as he did, he knew Asgore would never do such a thing, wishing to only share his tea with others, not make a profit.

As he was lost in thought, thinking of the prospect of opening a tea business with Asgore, said monster returned with a fresh, hot cup of tea for the teacher. He held it up to his nose and inhaled the delectable aroma of the tea. Jordan sighed in relief, smiling at Asgore warmly before taking a sip of the tea. "Ahhh, just as amazing as I remember. Thank you, your majesty."

Asgore shook his head and smiled, holding a hand out, "No need for formalities with friends, Jordan. And thank you, I do my best with every pot." Jordan hummed in agreement as he took another sip of the tea.

Jordan looked around in confusion, "Hey Asgore, where's Asriel? I haven't seen him."

Asgore nodded and smiled as he looked away, "Well, he's on his first date with Isabel. After some, *cough* encouragement from Chara and Verdana, he eventually gave in and asked her out."

Jordan smiled, "That's wonderful. I'm sure he's having a blast." Asgore nodded in agreement.

Alric chuckled from his spot at the table, "Hehe, yeah. Love's in the air over here, apparently…" His feet were back up on the table for a moment, and right on cue, Toriel took a step back, out of the kitchen, to glare at Alric. Alric gulped and put his feet back down on the floor. Asgore shook his head and chuckled, while Jordan did the same, before taking another sip of tea.

Soon enough, Toriel announced that dinner was finished. After Chara was notified (and Verdana mysteriously vanished) they all began to fill their plates with Toriel's homemade cooking and sat around the table, enjoying the dinner. It was heavenly. After the fact, they all sat around the living room and enjoyed each other's company as they conversed.

Asgore had gotten Jordan another cup of tea when he saw him spacing out a bit, "Are you alright Jordan?"

Jordan blinked and shook his head for a moment before smiling, "Yeah, yeah…" He saw that no one was convinced, "It's just… I'm still shocked that you all were willing to still care for and about me…"

Toriel smiled warmly and tilted her head, "Of course we do Jordan, we're your friends, and you've never tried to hurt us. Why would you be surprised?"

Jordan frowned and looked down to the cup of tea in his hands, "It's just… back, before I came here… I was kinda a loner…" He admitted, "No one really cared about me outside of my family. I was alone… never really thinking I mattered much…"

Alric shook his head, "Well, you clearly matter to us, so stop being so down in the dumps. Enjoy this." He said, motioning to everyone else.

Toriel giggled, "Not exactly the way I would've put it, but Alric is right Jordan. We care about you, and we're all friends, aren't we?" Jordan nodded, "Then stop dwelling on the past. You're forgiven for everything. Everyone here has made mistakes before. Most of us have hurt others when we shouldn't have or didn't want to… but we have all forgiven each other. The only one who still needs to forgive you, is yourself."

Jordan looked up into Toriel's eyes and smiled back at her, "Thanks Tori, I appreciate it."

Alex, with his arm once again around Frisk, spoke now, "Hey, you said you wanted to show us something?" He said, remembering something Jordan had mentioned earlier.

Jordan's eyes widened as he nodded, "Oh yes, I had almost forgotten…" He reached into his pocket and pulled out the gold and silver magical pen that he owned. "Alex, I'd like you to use your Purity magic on this. Fire a beam at the pen, if you will…"

Alex hesitated for a moment, but received a nod of approval from everyone else. Alex agreed and concentrated, summoning his SOUL forward as he then fired a narrow beam of Purity magic at the Pen, making it glow brightly.

"So, why did I just do that?" Alex asked.

Jordan smiled, "I… I wanted to show you all how much you all mean to me…" He held the glowing pen up a bit, allowing everyone to clearly see it. "This pen allows me to shape and bend reality within this timeline. Sure, I have done much good with it, but I have also done some bad…" He paused, looking at Alex, "What you just did was remove the fail-safe on the pen. A beam of Purity magic is needed to remove the 'Indestructibility Ward' placed on this pen."

They all widened their eyes as Jordan finished, "Now… I can destroy it…"

Alric tilted his head a bit, "Why are you going to destroy it? What if another Entity shows up? Or, what if you need it?"

Jordan weakly smiled, "No, I won't need it… No more Entities are coming. No more threats will come here to destroy this timeline. There are no threats to this timeline… except for this magical pen. When it's destroyed… it'll be all over… nothing left to worry about…"

Chara stared at the pen, "But won't you be weak without it?"

Jordan shook his head, "Think of it like the Reset Button. Would you be weak if it was destroyed?" Chara and Frisk shook their heads, "Exactly. Without the Reset Button, even if that's a power you lose, it's freeing to know that it is no longer a threat to everyone and their happiness."

Toriel looked up at him, "Are you sure about this? I don't think there will be any do overs."

Jordan nodded, "No, I need to do this." He looked up at them with a smile, now large and genuine, "We all deserve some rest, no longer having to worry about these 'huge threats to the universe' or any of that. You all deserve this!"

Toriel nodded, smiling herself. Everyone else, too, was smiling reassuringly toward the writer.

Now, everyone's attention was on Jordan Sower, aka SWR. He held the pen firmly as he held the tip with one hand and the end of the clip with the other. After all, this was a fairly large, nearly oversized pen. He tightened his grip as he looked over all of his friend's faces. They all smiled and watched him carefully, giving him 100% support. He smiled as the pen began to softly glow in his grip…

*Knowing that he had so many friends behind him, supporting him all of the way…

*Knowing that even he, the Author, was worth saving and forgiving…

*Jordan was filled with Pure Creativity!

 _*SNAP*_

* * *

 _ **Author's Note:**_

 _ **And this is the end of Purity. I hope you have all enjoyed this story and all of its ups and downs, twists and turns, and all of its numerous plot twists and Fourth-Wall breaking. I was happy to have all of your love and support as I wrote this and the previous instalment, PureTale.**_

 _ **Now… as for the future… I kinda may plan on doing a side story, detailing a few adventures, maybe, that occurred during the Six-Month-Gap between the final chapter and the Epilogue. This will also explain what happened with Alric and maybe a few other adventures. If you have a recommendation for one of those adventures, this will be your final opportunity to do so with the PureTale Cast. Send a PM or something to give me your idea. I WILL credit you for the idea!  
**_

 _ **Also, for the future, I plan on doing another large Undertale story that will not include this same cast. The plot is fully planned out, and I have begun work on it. If you happen to be interested in it, stay tuned for more news and, eventually, the first chapter to be uploaded soon. It will be less Meta/4th-wall-breaking, and will be focusing on a single, different and altered timeline. Other than that, more information will be available on my Profile soon... when some progress is made...  
**_

 _ **But, there may be a short period of time before I begin uploading anything else. I have quite a bit of work ahead of me and I've hit a sort of wall, unable to write as fast as before, but it should be better soon.**_

 _ **Finally, I would like to put a small list of special thanks and Credits for some of what I did:**_

* * *

 _ **Credits:**_

 **My OCs (Sower, Alex, etc.):** _Owned and Created by me, swrWriter_

 **Alric Dreemurr, The Judge:** _Owned/Created by Alextisgr8_

 **Verdana Serif, Varela the Blaster, and Rindie:** _Owned/Created by Razaraga_

 **UnderTale and its Characters:** _Created/Owned by Toby Fox_

 **Core Frisk:** _Created/Owned by dokudoki or  CoreFrisk_

 **Error Sans:** _Created/Owned by LoverofPiggies_

 **Betty and Akumu:** _Created/Owned by Camila Cuevas_

 **UnderSwap/ UnderFell AUs:** _As far as I know, owned/created by the Community_

 **Interpretations for various Characters:** _Also me, swrWriter_

 **All Music/Videos:** _Owned by whoever made them. NOT ME!_

 _ **Some Dialog for Alric and much of Rindie's and Verdana's were written by their respective owners. (See above for their FanFiction names)**_

 _ **Thank you everyone who has read and enjoyed this story! You have no idea how much this means to me!**_

* * *

 _ **It is now complete. If you think that this deserves it, please leave a review to tell me how it was. Please, PLEASE, if you enjoyed any of the AUs/Characters in this story that aren't mine, PLEASE go and tell their creators how epic and amazing they are!**_

 _ **To the Guest Review that was just submitted: I understand where you're coming from and I appreciate the honesty. Honestly, there were many things I wasn't truly happy with in this story and some points I kinda agree with. Thanks for the comments though.**_

 _ **Anyway, I will see you all next story, if you choose to stick around for it. Have a wonderful day, and thank you all once again.**_

 _ **-swrWriter**_


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